
Class. 
Book. 



Gopiglit)^^ 



COF^ICHT DEPOSm 



\ 



Life, Letters and Travels of 
Father De Smet among the 
North American Indians. 





:*^?'~'V 



<.-^ 







LIFE, LETTERS AND TRAVELS 

OF 

Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, S. J. 

1801-1873 



Missionary Labors and Adventures among the Wild Tribes of the 

North American Indians, Embracing Minute Description of Their 

Manners, Customs, Games, Modes of Warfare and Torture, 

Legends, Tradition, etc., All from Personal Observations 

Made during Many Thousand Miles of Travel, 

with Sketches of the Country from St. Louis 

to Puget Sound and the Altrabasca 



Edited from the origmal ^mpiiblished manuscript Joiirnals 

and Letter Books and from his Printed Works with 

Historical, Geographical, Ethnological and other Notes; 

Also a Life of Father De Smet 



MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS 



BY 

HIRAM MARTIN CHITTENDEN 

Major, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A. 

AND 

ALFRED TALBOT RICHARDSON 



FOUR VOLUMES 
VOL. Ill 



NEW YORK 

FRANCIS P. HARPER 

1905 



THE LIBRARY OF \ 
COMGfESS. j 

Two Copies Heceiveri ' 

NOV 25 i«04 j 

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CLAS! 



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COPY A. 



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Copyright, 1904, 

BY 

FRANCIS P. HARPER 
All rights reserved 



CONTENTS OF VOLUME IIL 

CHAPTER II. 

PAGE. 

Return to St. 1x)uis via Panama 795-8ii 

CHAPTER IIL 
Peace Mission to the Sioux in 1864 812-837 

CHAPTER IV. 
Ocean and River Voyages of 1865 and 1866 .... 838-858 

CHAPTER V. 
Expedition of 1867 to the Hostile Sioux .... 859-889 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Peace Commission of 1868 ^0-922 

CHAPTER VII. 
Last Journeys of Father De Smet 923-932 

PART VIL 

THE INDIANS. 

CHAPTER I. 

Religious Opinions of the Assiniboins .... 933*945 

CHAPTER II. 
Notes on the Blackfeet 946-95C 

CHAPTER IIL 
The Oregon Indians 957-973 

[V] 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

PACE. 

Notes on the Pawnees 974-988 

CHAPTER V. 
Notes on Certain Western Tribes 989-998 

CHAPTER VI. 
Manners and Customs of the Indians .... 999-1061 

CHAPTER VII. 
Religious Beliefs 1062-1077 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Indian Legends and Traditions 1078- 1099 

CHAPTER IX. 
An Old Delaware Legend 1100-1107 

CHAPTER X. 
Tchatka, the Chief of the Assiniboins .... 1108-1142 

CHAPTER XI. 

Louise Sighouin, an Indian Woman of the Cceur D'Alene 

Tribe 1143-1175 

CHAPTER XIL 
History of the Family of Le Gros Francois . . . 1176-1185 

CHAPTER Xin. 
The Indian Question 1186-1211 



CHAPTER II. 

RETURN TO ST. LOUIS VIA PANAMA. 

Over Mullan Pass to St. Ignatius Mission — New churches — Devout 
Indians — Forest fires — Captain Mullan's report — Father De Smet's 
full basket — Down the Columbia — New towns and new ways in the 
Northwest — California — The further journey home. 

/^N^ the 25th of August, I bade farewell to my dear 
^^ brothers in Jesus Christ and left the Mission of St. 
Peter, to repair to that of St. Ignatius, west of the Rocky 
Mountains. The distance is about 250 miles, by the route 
laid out by the Government engineers. It leads across sev- 
eral small rivers, tributaries of the Missouri, such as the 
Prior, the Dearborn, the Prickly Pear, etc. This last 
might better be called Hop river, for this plant covers, 
literally, every bush and all the lower branches of the trees 
in the valley. Anise {pinipinella anisiim) likewise abounds. 
On the 29th, toward noon, we attained the summit of 
the great chain of the Rocky Mountains, by Mullan's Pass, 
at an elevation of 5,980 feet above sea-level. On the 5th 
of September I reached the Mission of St. Ignatius among 
the Flatheads and Pend d'Oreilles. A fine frame church, 
ninety by forty feet, has been erected here. I found the 
mission prosperous and flourishing. Notwithstanding this, 
it is impossible to overestimate the dangers which, just at 
this time, are threatening all the mountain tribes, through 
the approach of the whites, the ease with which liquors — 
*' fire water " — so fatal to the Indians, can be obtained, 
and the accompaniment of all the vices and excesses of our 
modern civilization ; especially as understood and practiced 
by our American pioneers. These things must be seen to 
be appreciated and believed. 

^ Translated from the French of the Linton Album, pp. 65-69. 

[795] 



796 NEW CHURCH AND MISSION BUILDINGS. 

The worthy and zealous Father Grassi, superior of this 
mission, has had all the materials prepared for the con- 
struction of a hospital and school buildings. He was, how- 
ever, at a loss where to find nuns to conduct these new es- 
tablishments — still he continued his work, trusting to the 
good providence of the Lord. I could do no less than en- 
courage him as well as I was able in his useful labor, so nec- 
essary to the welfare of his neophytes, and the good Father's 
hopes were not in vain. On my return to St. Louis I ap- 
proached, by letter, the worthy Sisters of Charity of the 
Maison de la Providence at Montreal, Canada. The 
Superior-General has generously granted my request ; she 
answers me " that she grants most willingly this first colony 
of sisters for the Mission of St. Ignatius, and that she will 
do as much for other missions where there may be a need of 
sisters." I hastened to impart to the superior of the moun- 
tain missions this consoling piece of good news — and as 
for means, one may hope that the holy providence of the 
Lord will intervene here also. 

On my way, I found the Reverend Father Ravalli in the 
St. Mary's or Flathead valley, with one Brother, occupied, 
with the aid of a few Indians, in building a new church. 
The site is twenty miles distant from the old Mission of St. 
Mary. In the same valley, thirty miles lower down, an- 
other little church has been put up for the use of French and 
Canadian colonists — and another still at the Flathead lake 
for the half-breeds and Indians. A church was in course 
of construction at Bannock, a mining town, where Father 
Grassi has obtained a subscription of $1,500; the Protest- 
ants themselves contributed. There was a demand for sev- 
eral other churches in various mining regions. At the 
mission of the Kootenais, a branch of that of St. Ignatius, 
the good Indians have built a little church and a presbytery, 
for the use of the missionary who visits them. They re- 
main in their primitive sirnplicity, fervor and zeal. They 
are the admiration of all the travelers who visit them, for 



A CAMP OF THE FAITHFtTL. 797 

their diligence in all religious practices, their hospitality and 
love of justice. Theft is unknown among them. 

Wherever I met with any of our Mission Indians, they 
overwhelmed me with marks of friendliness. The day 
after I had crossed the divide, I came toward evening upon 
one of their hunting camps. They were ignorant of my 
being in that country. I saw the chief sound the Angelus, 
and all his people prostrate themselves devoutly to recite it. 
This edifying Christian spectacle is repeated thrice every day 
in the remote wilderness. I came up in time to preside at 
the evening prayers of these dear children of my heart. 

That same evening, to the great consolation of the In- 
dians, and especially to mine, the Reverend Father Giorda, 
superior of all that mission, arrived in the camp. He was 
returning from California, and was then on his way from 
St. Ignatius to St. Peter's. Our mutual joy was great and 
profound. Let me add that it is in the desert that such a 
meeting, between two brothers in Jesus Christ, can be most 
truly appreciated. We exchanged eagerly all our little 
budget of news, good and bad — our hopes and our fears, 
for the present and the future of our dear missions and our 
dear neophytes. 

The camp was going " to buffalo," east of the Rocky 
Mountains. Father Giorda gave them a long instruction 
that evening, and the confessions lasted far into the night, 
in their desire to approach devoutly the holy table. On the 
morrow I celebrated, sub dio, the most holy sacrifice of the 
mass, and addressed them some consoling words concern- 
ing religion and the joy with which this fortunate meeting 
inspired me. All the neophytes surrounded the humble 
altar, made of willows and poles, and chanted in chorus 
the praises of the Lord and the litanies of our August 
Mother the Holy Virgin. A large number piously received 
the holy communion. 

Father Giorda and I remained in camp all this fine day, 
with these good Pend d'Oreilles and Flatheads around us, 



798 ACROSS SOHON PASS. 

hungry to listen to us. It was a pleasant day, and under 
the circumstances doubly beautiful, and certainly, to me, 
one of the most agreeable and consoling of all my long 
wanderings. I gave baptism to several new-born infants, 
and afterward distributed medals, scapulars and chaplets 
among such as needed them, and fish-hooks among the 
young men — an article very necessary and very much 
sought after among them. All day long they were com- 
ing to share their fish with us, and offered us big strings 
of fine spotted mountain trout (salmo fario). Others 
brought us potatoes, onions, carrots, turnips and fruits of 
various sorts, which they seemed to have in abundance, the 
fruit of their own industry. 

I left St. Ignatius' Mission on the 8th of September. 
We were one day reaching Clark's Fork and three days 
going down the valley of this river, as far as the mouth of 
the river St. Regis and Borgia. Here we were kept by 
rain until the i6th. On that day we crossed the Regis- 
Borgia thirty-seven times. Different kinds of pine and 
fir abound in this valley. The undergrowth, in the moun- 
tainous part that we traversed, is very thick, and consists 
principally of a sort of bush with velvety leaves, which, 
when properly dried, yield an aromatic tea, very agreeable 
and beneficial. We arrived at the summit of the Coeur 
d'Alene Mountains about four in the afternoon. This is 
called Sohon^ Pass and its elevation is 5,100 feet above 
sea-level. 

Along the river in the Cceur d'Alene valley the forests 
are extremely thick, and one cannot but admire the aston- 
ishing thickness and height of the pines and cedars. I 
measured several of these giants of the forest, the circum- 
ference of which was five, six and even seven fathoms. 
In the shade of the cedars the Lychnis of Canada (or Asaron 
Canadensis) grows in profusion; it is a medical plant, of 

2 Over the Cceur d'Alene Mountains between the headwaters of the 
Regis-Borgia and the Coeur d'Alene river. Named for Captain Mul- 
lan's guide in his explorations of this country, 1858-1862. 



THE CCEUR D'ALi:NE MISSION. 799 

which Charboni, in his history of New France (botanical 
section) tells wonders. The Solanum trifolium, with its 
handsome flower, likewise attracts attention everywhere. 

A forest fire was raging during our passage, and had 
spread over a dozen miles of the mountain side and even 
to their highest parts. The smoke was very thick, and 
thousands of tree-trunks, fallen one upon another in con- 
fusion, obstructed the regular road and all the surface of 
the ground. We succeeded at last, axe in hand, and after 
plenty of minor miseries, in getting out of all the obstacles 
caused by the conflagration. In the course of the 17th we 
crossed the Coeur d'Alene river forty-two times. On the 
1 8th we reached the Mission of the Sacred Heart. 

The mission among the Cceur d'Alenes continues to pros- 
per, under the prudent management of the excellent and 
worthy Father Gazzoli and his zealous companion, Father 
Caruana, and the good Brother Huybrechts from Antwerp 
and three other brothers. The Cceur d'Alenes continue to 
give great satisfaction and consolation to their worthy mis- 
sionaries, by their constancy in the practices of religion and 
their perseverance in the faith. May heaven preserve them 
from the dangerous contact of the whites! They are 
threatened unceasingly with the loss of their lovely fertile 
lands and of the advantageous position occupied by the 
mission. 

Captain Mullan, of the United States army, speaks as 
follows in a report which has recently been published by 
order of the Government and at Government expense. You 
will find the paragraph somewhat long, but I prefer to give 
it entire. The captain puts the Indian question to his Gov- 
ernment very directly — the response, or at least the ordi- 
nary practice, when the whites take possession of the lands 
of the Indians, is to push them farther back into the wilder- 
ness or to exterminate them. 

The captain in his report praises the missionaries and 
their converts very highly, and goes on to say : 

" They have chosen a beautiful site, on a hill in the mid- 



SOO MULLAN ON THE INDIAN QUESTION. 

die of the mission valley, and it has always proved to the 
weary traveler and destitute emigrant a St. Bernard in 
the CcEur d'Alene Mountains. I fear that the location of 
our road, and the swarms of miners and emigrants thnt 
must pass here year after year, will so militate against the 
best interests of the mission that its present site will have 
to be changed or abandoned. This, for themselves and the 
Indians, is to be regretted ; but I can only regard it as the 
inevitable result of opening and settling the country. I 
have seen enough of Indians to convince me of this fact : 
that they can never exist in contact with the whites; and 
their only salvation is to be removed far, far from their 
presence. But they have been removed so often that there 
seems now no place left for their further migration ; the 
waves of civilization have invaded their homes from both. 
oceans, driving them year after year toward the Rocky 
Mountains; and now that we propose to invade these mourj- 
tain solitudes, to wrest from them their hidden wealth, 
where under heaven can the Indians go ? And may we not 
expect to see these people make one desperate struggle in 
the fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains for the maintenance 
of their last homes and the preservation of their lives? 
It is a matter that but too strongly commends itself to the 
early and considerate attention of the General Government. 
The Indian is destined to disappear before the white man, 
and the only question is, how it may best be done, and his 
disappearance from our midst be tempered with those ele- 
ments calculated to produce to himself the least amount of 
suffering, and to us the least amount of cost." 

You may see from this extract from Captain Mullan's 
report to his Government, the real tendency of what we have 
to fear for the future of the Indian tribes in the vast Idaho 
Territory. 

To proceed with my tale, the Church of the Sacred Heart, 
with that of St. Ignatius, are the two monuments of the 
Rocky Mountains ; they are well adorned with pictures and 
statues, which are the admiration as well of the whites as 



FATHER JOSEt's LABORS. 80I 

of the savages. This mission has two branch stations, with 
two little churches, one on the shores of the great Cceur 
d'Alene lake, the other among the tribe of the Spokans or 
Zingomenes, in a fair valley of the Spokan river. This 
tribe at one time had Calvinist or Presbyterian ministers; 
since the departure of these sectarians, conversions to our 
holy religion have been very numerous. The Mission of 
the Sacred Heart is at an elevation of 2,280 feet above sea- 
level. 

Reverend Father Joset, who has been laboring with tire- 
less zeal in the mountain missions for well nigh twenty 
years, is at the Mission of St. Paul at Colville, at the Kettle 
Falls of the Columbia. He was absent from his mission 
at the time of my arrival. I give below a few details con- 
cerning his apostolic labors, which he has given me since. 

" Your Reverence knows that I am at St. Paul to reopen 
the mission. I have many excursions to make, among the 
Kalispels of the Great Lake of the Columbia, among the 
Pend d'Oreilles of the Bay, on Clark's Fork, one of its 
main tributaries, among the Simpoils, the Okinagans — but 
the church to finish, the house to build, keep me often at 
Colville, to my great regret. 

" I am looking for my companion to arrive from one day 
to another ; with two presidents, I hope that we shall be able 
to meet the needs of all, though there will be plenty of work 
for us both. 

" On my return from Walla Walla, where I had been 
buying my supplies of provisions, etc. (October i6th), I 
arrived in time to bury two dead ; to-morrow I go again to 
the new church, to try to push the work. I have just regis- 
tered the eighty-second birth for this year, so that your 
Reverence can infer what the population of this district 
is. There are besides a great number of unmarried men, 
soldiers, miners, etc. 

" Besides the whites and the Christian tribes, that is, the 
Kettles, the Gens des Lacs and the Kalispels, we have the 
Simpoils, the Tlakam, the people of the stone islands, the 
51 



802 SOME INDIANS DOn't DRINK. 

Spiokensi and the Satlilku, who can only receive religious 
aid from St. Paul. All speak nearly the same language, 
and a great number of them have already received baptism. 
Your Reverence will observe that our task is large and our 
labors multifarious, in the administration of the holy sac- 
raments and the instruction of so many tribes. 

" Pray for us and have others do so, that we may accom- 
plish worthily the duties that the Lord lays upon us; that 
is, that we may be good religieux, worthy children of St. 
Ignatius. 

" I spend the greater part of my time in a tent, eating 
what comes, sometimes in abundance, sometimes in penury, 
performing my spiritual exercises as best I can, regulating 
my time by the sun and stars when the weather is clear, 
otherwise, by the occupations that offer. When I am 
among the Indians, my time is very much occupied, I hardly 
have leisure to do more than think of them and their 
spiritual and bodily profit. But amidst the whites, I sel- 
dom see them except on Sunday, unless I go after them 
myself. 

"Although whisky is making great ravages among the 
Indians, especially at Colville, still the Lord has reserved 
himself a goodly number untouched by corruption. With 
these it is always the same avidity to hear the word of life, 
the same eagerness to approach the sacraments. As for the 
other bands, one may truthfully say ' Parvuli petierunt 
panem et non crat qui frangerct eis/ I raise my hands to 
heaven, and full of trust in the divine goodness, I pray and 
hope that, this mission once re-established, it will be other- 
wise for the future." 

I owe a great debt of gratitude to my dear brothers in 
Jesus Christ for the truly fraternal charity and kindness that 
they have shown me, during my short but consoling stay 
among them. May I, however, add that it; occurred to one 
of the missionaries to compare me to the good St. Nicho- 
las, " who never came with an empty basket." It was really 
a great happiness to me to be able, this time, to relieve my 



CHARITABLENESS OF CHOUTEAU. 803 

dear brothers in their pressing needs, and to share with them 
my httle belongings. When one leaves the land of civiliza- 
tion for a long journey or mission among the Indian tribes, 
where everything is lacking, one necessarily takes precau- 
tions — and the benefactors of the missions in St. Louis 
had stocked me up very well. Father Grassi had just fin- 
ished a new church, which had not one obolus' worth of 
ornaments, vestments nor sacred vessels ; at his earnest en- 
treaty, I let him have my little traveling chapel. His joy 
and gratitude repaid me amply, and made me forget the 
great privation I had laid myself under. 

I have since learned that the Reverend Fathers have re- 
ceived the provisions, clothing, church vestments, tools, etc.. 
intended to supply the different missions. My little cargo 
amounted in all to nearly 1,500 pounds. The worthy cap- 
tain of the steamboat, Mr. Charles Chouteau, was so ex- 
ceedingly obliging and charitable as to give me a free pas- 
sage, together with the two brothers, as well as transporta- 
tion for our baggage and all the things destined for the 
missions — a charity on his part, which would otherwise 
have cost us upward of $1,000. We shall pray, and ven- 
ture to hope, that heaven will reward him, with all his re- 
spectable family,^ for his great goodness and charity to the 
missionaries and their missions. This Good work he re- 
peats with pleasure every spring and at each departure for 
the mountains. 



I^ reached the Sacred Heart Mission on the i8th of 
September and left again on the 23d, in the best of com- 
pany, that of the worthy Father Gazzoli, who had to go 
to Walla Walla in the interests of his mission, and of a 
respectable Irish physician, Mr. W. T. Martin, of Dublin, 
an old pupil of the College of Notre Dame of Namur. He 
has abundant claims on my most lively gratitude. With 

3 Translated from the French of the Linton Album, pp. 70-74. 



804 DEVELOPMENT AROUND WALLA WALLA. 

true Christian charity, he bestowed all his care and attention 
on the sick and infirm savages in the camps we came across. 
Everywhere that Mr. Martin went he was the benefactor 
of our missions; I shall always recall with the most lively 
gratitude the really fraternal kindness and attention which 
he lavished on me from St. Louis to San Francisco. His 
intention was to continue his little tour, returning to Dublin 
by way of the Sandwich Islands, the Philippines, Japan, 
China and the East Indies — almost the only parts of the 
world that he had not yet visited. May heaven protect him 
— our poor prayers will go with him throughout his long 
and dangerous voyages. 

The principal rivers crossed on our route were the 
Spokan, the Paloos, the great Snake river or Clark's 
[Lewis'] Fork, the Touchat and the Walla Walla. After 
a very favorable and pleasant journey, on the eighth day 
we came to Walla Walla City (915 feet above sea-level). 
This is barely a town of yesterday, but already it has over 
2,000 inhabitants, with all the signs of civilization in full 
swing. Its movement and commerce are very great; ar- 
rivals and departures of travelers and merchandise from 
morning till night. All the places adapted to agriculture 
are covered with vast farms, for thirty to forty miles 
around. The Very Reverend and very zealous Mr. Brouil- 
let, Vicar-General of Monseigneur of Nisqually, was at 
Walla Walla, busied about the erection of a new church 
and a convent for the instruction of the children of the city, 
under the care of the excellent Sisters of Charity of 
Montreal. 

On October 6th I took the stage coach for Wallula, a 
small town situated on the Columbia thirty miles distant 
from Walla Walla. Early on the morning of the 7th I 
embarked upon the steamboat which makes regular trips 
to the Dalles. To avoid the falls and the bad places in the 
river, there is a little railroad ten or a dozen miles long, 
which brought us in the evening to Dalles City, some 125 
miles from Wallula. Settlements are still very scarce along 



DOWN THE COLUMBIA. 805 

the river, but we passed Umatilla, Grand Ronde City and 

Celilo. 

Dalles City is a town of about the same age as Walla 
Walla, and has few, if any, more inhabitants. It is a better 
business town, because it controls a larger section of coun- 
try. The respectable curate of this city is the Reverend 
Mr. Vermaersh, a Belgian. He has a handsome frame 
church and was watching the erection of a convent, for the 
education of youth, under the direction of the Sisters of 
Jesus and Mary. A series of little towns and villages are 
rising as if by enchantment, all along the river as we go 
down, and all through the interior of the country.'' 

:i- ******** 

On the 8th of October I resumed my journey, going 
forty-five miles by steamboat. Five miles of this distance, 
through the Cascade Mountains, is made by rail. Then we 
take the steamer on the Columbia again and reach Van- 
couver toward evening. This is a town of 700 to 800 in- 
habitants. It is the ordinary residence of the Bishop of 
Nisqually, Monseigneur Magloire Blanchet. This diocese, 
established in 1850, contains six secular priests, eight regu- 
lar priests, seven lay brothers, eleven churches and chapels, 
twenty sisters of charity, a college, four literary institu- 
tions for girls, three similar establishments for boys and 
four charitable institutions. The white Catholic popula- 
tion was 6,000 souls before gold was discovered, and must 
have more than tripled since. The arch-diocese of Oregon 
comprises twelve priests, ten churches, five religious insti- 
tutions for the education of girls and five for that of boys. 
Portland is the ordinary residence of Monseigneur the 
Archbishop. It is the chief city and the commercial metrop- 
olis of Oregon, having some 6,000 inhabitants. Twelve 
Sisters of Jesus and Mary are conducting a fine religious 
institution for the education of girls, which is in a very 
prosperous condition, enjoying the confidence of the public, 

4 For omitted portions of this letter, see p. 1518. 



8o6 STATE OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

as well of Protestants as of Catholics. I owe the greatest 
gratitude to the venerable Archbishop of Oregon and to 
Monseigneur the Bishop of Nisqually, for the truly paternal 
kindness that they showed me — their Grandeurs over- 
whelmed me with charities in their hospitable residences at 
Portland and Vancouver. At Portland I had the pleasure 
of meeting a fellow-countryman, the Reverend and worthy 
Mr. Fierens, curate of the cathedral. 

On the 13th of October I set sail from Portland for San 
Francisco. We passed the dangerous bar at the mouth of 
the Columbia in safety. The steamer touched at Victoria, 
the capital of Vancouver Island, one of the new towns, ad- 
mirably well situated, from both practical and picturesque 
standpoints. Its commerce is already important, and grow- 
ing day by day by reason of its nearness to the mines on 
Fraser river and in the Caribou Mountains. 

The worthy Monseigneur Demers, Bishop of Vancouver 
Island and the western part of the Rocky Mountains, in the 
English possessions, resides at Victoria. Besides the cathe- 
dral and the attached school, the Reverend Oblat Fathers 
have opened a college and church here. The Sisters of 
Jesus and Mary have a boarding-school, very well patron- 
ized, and a school for the instruction of girls. These worthy 
religieuses, like the respectable Sisters of Charity of the 
Asyle de la Providence of Montreal, are doing an immense 
amount of good in these remote regions. Monseigneur was 
absent, and had extended his apostolic tour in search of his 
flock as far as to the miners of the Caribou Mountains. 
The Reverend Oblat Fathers have several missions among 
the savages of the interior of the island and on Fraser river, 
where they are working with the greatest zeal and the hap- 
piest results ; numerous conversions have everywhere 
crowned their noble efforts. 

The steamer left Victoria on the i6th, and after a fortu- 
nate voyage, although with some severe gales, I arrived in 
San Francisco on the 21st — happy to find myself once 
more in the midst of my dear brothers in Jesus Christ. 



SANTA CLARA AND SAN J0S]6. 807 

Reverend Father Sopranis, visitor of all the missions of the 
Company of Jesus in North America, was awaiting me at 
San Francisco. 

During my short stay in California, I visited the College 
of Santa Clara and the residence of our Fathers at San 
Jose. The college is in a very flourishing state, as is that 
at San Francisco. At San Jose I visited the establishment 
of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, whom I had con- 
ducted to America in 1843, ^o ^he number of five sisters. 
These first founders are still in good health. The sisters 
have now two fine large establishments in California. The 
convent at San Jose contains twenty-two professed sisters, 
seven novices and two aspirants; there are 120 pupils in the 
boarding-school, seventy-five day scholars and about the 
same number attending the school gratis. On Sundays 
they have a class for servant girls, and assemble the Catho- 
lics for Christian teaching. The convent at Marysville 
has fourteen sisters, who also have around them a good 
number of children, inmates and outsiders ; and are follow- 
ing in the same line with the sisters of San Jose. The 
convents of the Sisters of Notre Dame are rendering very 
great service wherever they are established in America. 
Their scholars in Cincinnati and Boston are counted by 
thousands. This religious congregation is growing mar- 
velously. 

I left San Francisco on the 3d of November. I had the 
consolation and happiness to serve as companion to our 
Reverend Father Visitor in his voyage to New York. Sev- 
eral of our dear brothers of St. Ignatius College escorted 
us on board the vessel. The Pacific Ocean showed itself 
truly pacific, calm and beautiful, and varied scarcely at all 
throughout the voyage. We stopped at Acapulco, a Mex- 
ican port, to coal and take on the mails. 

We reached Panama the night of the 17th, and the fol- 
lowing morning we crossed the Isthmus of Panama, forty- 
seven miles, by rail. Toward evening of the same day we 
took ship again at Aspinwall, on the steamer North Star. 



8o8 A LONG JOURNEY FINISHED. 

The weather continued clear and lovely, though varied at 
times by hard squalls and head-winds. The Reverend 
Father Visitor was very much inconvenienced and suffered 
much from sea-sickness, and for several days his con- 
dition alarmed me seriously. We passed within sight of 
Jamaica, Cuba and several low, islands of the Bahama 
group, and at last, on the ninth day out, reached the good 
harbor of New York, on the 26th of November, Thanks- 
giving day by proclamation of the President of the United 
States. An hour later, we found ourselves in the midst of 
our dear brothers in Jesus Christ, at the College of St. 
Francis Xavier, who received us with their usual kindness, 
that is, with the most fraternal charity. The Reverend 
Father Provincial of Missouri was expected in New York, 
and I decided to wait for him. 

On the 9th of December I set out to accomplish the last 
portion of my long journey. We came by way of Balti- 
more, Washington, Frederick City and Cincinnati, in all 
of which cities the Father Provincial had business to trans- 
act. In Washington I had also an errand — matters to 
bring before the Government in favor of our missions 
among the Indians. Finally we reached St. Louis safe and 
sound on the 17th of December. The day following, I of- 
fered the holy sacrifice of the altar, as a thanksgiving ser- 
vice for all the benefits received from heaven, in my long, 
painful and dangerous tour, upon rivers and seas and diverse 
lands — through numerous bands of hostile Indians — in 
the mountainous portion of Idaho, infested by white ma- 
rauders and assassins of the lowest and vilest sort — and on 
the two great oceans, the Pacific and Atlantic, ranged at 
present by hostile ships of the American Confederacy. 
Glory to God alone and to the glorious Virgin Mary, for all 
the favors obtained. 

I commend myself most specially to your good prayers. 
Every day at the altar I form most sincere vows in behalf 
of your Reverence and all our benefactors in Holland and 



THE MILK RIVER AFFAIR AGAIN. 809 

Belgium. We shall not cease to pray, with our dear 
neophytes, for their happiness here below and for eternity. 



I may later write you a longer account of my last trip, as 
you have called for in several of your letters; on this 
occasion I have little time left and must necessarily be short ; 
I can only give you a cursory notice of the country I passed 
through."^ 

I left St. Louis on the 9th of May. I baptized several 
hundred children on my way up the Missouri, at the dif- 
ferent posts where Indians had gathered to await the ar- 
rival of the boat. All were very kind and attentive to me. 
We had no hindrance, neither from enemies nor from any 
other obstacles on the river, till we reached the mouth of 
Milk river — 2,400 miles above St. Louis. Here, good 
depth of water failed, and the captain put all his passen- 
gers ashore (eighty in number) and 200 tons of mer- 
chandise ; this left us about 300 miles from our destination. 
Three days after the boat had left us we were attacked by 
a powerful band of Sioux warriors, about 600 in number. 
Our camp was in an awful fix and no ways prepared for 
such a visit. All rushed to their arms in a rather confused 
manner. For my own part I had no time to reflect and had 
nothing to do with fire-arms. I recommended myself to the 
Lord, and full of confidence in the prayers which I knew 
were [being] offered for me in many places, I walked, or 
rather ran, up to the vanguard of the enemy, about forty 
strong. The partisan or captain of the band happily recog- 
nized me and he cried out, " It is the Black-gown, who 
saved my sister." They all looked bewildered, but were 
kind and shook hands with me. We had a long talk, in 
which I gave them some salutary advice, backed with some 
coffee, sugar and hard biscuits, and they left us without 
further molestation. The Indian brave, my friend, was the 

5 Additional data upon the journey of 1863. — From a letter to Father 
Murphy, March 30, 1864. 



8lO MISSIONS AND MINERS. 

son of Red Fish, the great chief of the Sioux Ogallala 
tribe, whose history I have left on record,® as also that of 
his daughter, in the fifth of the Cinquante Nouvelles Lettres, 
published in Belgium, and to which you may refer, should 
you feel inclined to know the whole circumstance. It 
would rather be too long for me to repeat it here. Only 
two of our men had received arrow wounds and happily 
recovered later. 

We waited about a month at the mouth of Milk river, 
when horses and conveyances arrived from Fort Benton. 
After a tedious journey through a desolate country, where 
all vegetation had disappeared under the long summer 
drought, we reached the fort on the day of the glorious 
Assumption of the ever Glorious Blessed Virgin. I here 
met Father Imoda, and after a few days' rest, and having 
baptized a good number of Crow and Blackfoot children, 
we proceeded together to St. Peter's Mission, seventy-five 
miles distant. 

The mission register contains about 1,500 baptisms of 
children and adults. Thousands of whites are flocking in 
the new Montana Territory in search of gold, within the dis- 
trict of St. Peter's Mission. They have erected several 
cities, of which the most conspicuous are Virginia City and 
Banack, with thousands of miners within and around them ; 
so that the Fathers, two in number, will have their hands 
full, both with Indians and whites. * * * West of 
the mountains I met with many old friends among the 
Indians, who welcomed me among them with the utmost 
kindness and affection. The Missions of St. Ignatius, of 
the Sacred Heart, of St. Paul at Colville, were still pros- 
perous and doing well. They direct some fifteen different 
stations, where small churches have been built. The Flat- 
heads and Kalispels will soon have a convent. I obtained 
a little colony of Sisters of Charity of the Asyle de la Provi- 
dence at Montreal, who will take charge of it. I passed 

® See pp. 630 and 791. 



A VOYAGE WITH THE VISITOR. 8ll 

through Walla Walla, Dalles City, Vancouver City and 
Portland in Oregon, where religion was progressing. Em- 
barked at Portland, via Victoria in Vancouver Island and 
reached San Francisco on the 21st of October. The dis- 
tance may be put down from Benton to San Francisco at 
2,580 miles. 

In California, the affairs of our Society look rather 
crooked, and I am afraid some of ours have not been over- 
prudent. No good can come from that quarter, unless 
kind Providence comes to our rescue ; the presence of the 
Visitor has done nothing toward mending and filling the 
breach. I left in his company for Panama and Aspin- 
wall, which we reached in due time and safe and sound, a 
distance of 2,347 miles. We next embarked for New 
York, 2,000 miles, where we were welcomed with open 
arms by the good Fathers of St. Xavier College — a few 
days' rest, and en route de nouveau, via Washington and 
St. Louis, which I reached on the 17th of December last. 
Please present my best respects to the good Fathers in New 
Orleans and pray for me. 



CHAPTER III. 

PEACE MISSION TO THE SIOUX IN 1864. 

Still planning for the Sioux — Precarious state of health — Govern- 
ment's invitation to visit the hostiles puts him in a dilemma — Another 
voyage up the river — Changes in Iowa — Omaha — Ministrations by 
the way — The unhappy Winnebagoes — Yankton — Barbarities of 
soldiers and savages — Indian w"arfare — Native eloquence — Inter- 
views and councils — Praying for rain — Peace mission of no avail — 
Returns to St. Louis — Travels abroad. 

St. Louis University, Feb. 23, 1864.^ 

Very Reverend Father-General: 

*ir WILL add a few lines to my long letter (journey of 
" 1863) to inform your Paternity that no definite de- 
cision relative to my renewing my missionary work among 
the Indians in May has yet been reached. When I was in 
Washington the Secretary of the Interior and the Commis- 
sioner of Indian Affairs seemed very desirous that I should 
repeat my visit to the Sioux this spring, and even offered 
to pay my traveling expenses. It is going to be very diffi- 
cult to obtain peace with those terrible savages. I have 
not compromised nor engaged myself in any way with those 
high officials. 

My health is returning gradually. Meanwhile I have 
written to two Sioux interpreters, trusty men, raised among 
those tribes, to consult them and obtain information re- 
garding the present state of the Sioux country with respect 
to the war, as to the disposition of the Indians in regard to 
peace, and whether my presence among them could be of 
any use, to either the Indians or the whites, in the capacity 

1 The four letters next following are from the personal letter-books 
of Father De Smet, the first three being translations from the French. 

[812] 



PROJECTED VISIT TO THE SIOUX. 813 

of peacemaker. I am waiting for the interpreters' reply; 
if it is favorable and my health permits, and above all under 
the wise direction and with the permission of the Reverend 
Father Provincial, I propose to visit those warlike tribes in 
the course of the coming summer. My only object would be 
to announce to them the word of the Lord, with the words 
of peace, and to put an end, by wholesome advice, to the 
massacres of the whites and thereby prevent the entire 
extinction of the Sioux nation, which must be the final re- 
sult of this unfortunate and cruel war. 

In union of your holy sacrifices and prayers I have the 
honor to be, with the most profound respect. 



St. Louis University, March 14, 1864. 
My very dear Silvie: 

I cannot express to you the joy and consolation that your 
good letters have brought me. They are the first I have 
received from the family, and I am exceedingly grateful 
to you. I am glad to see that your uncle Francis and dear 
Paul have received mine of December 24th. I do not get 
any answer ; I know not to what I must attribute the delay ; 
I own to you that the delay pains me deeply. * * * 

I cannot hide from you, dear Silvie, that my health has 
been wavering for some months past, and begins to be 
threatening. I am broken down with all sorts of troubles : 
I suffer particularly with my head; it is seldom that I can 
leave my room. In case my health should permit, I will 
have to make an effort to take the road again, to undertake 
a very long and dangerous journey among the Indian 
tribes. In the present difficult circumstances, the Indians 
being in a state of war, the Secretary of the Interior begs 
me to go and visit them in the capacity of peacemaker, etc. 
The interests of our missions, the security of the whites in 



8 14 MANY SOLDIERS ONE PEACEMAKER. 

that country and the happiness and tranquilHty of the In- 
dians, all seem to require that I should go. I speak of this 
because I feel that it would be a very sensible afifliction to 
me to have to start out again on a long and uncertain road 
to the Great Desert without having first received late letters 
from your uncle Francis, dear Paul, etc. 



St. Louis University, March 15, 1864. 
My dear Gustave: 

I have received your two dear good letters of the nth 
of January and nth of February. * * * 

Since my return to St. Louis after my long and painful 
journey I have been in rather bad shape. Like a regular 
old man, I am full of infirmities — my head especially 
troubles me the most. I can seldom leave my room and go 
out of the house. For some time past my greatest priva- 
tion is to be unable even to celebrate holy mass. It is the 
first time since I was ordained priest in 1827 that I have 
been prevented by sickness from celebrating at the altar. 
I can see that the doctors are not without some uneasiness 
on the score of my health. As for myself I am not without 
hope ; for that matter, we are in the Lord's hands ; may he 
do with us according to his holy will. I am conscious of 
a wish to be able to renew and continue my missions and 
travels among the Indian tribes of the great plains. They 
have great need of being visited and of receiving good ad- 
vice. For the last two years they have been making merci- 
less war upon the whites, pushed to the limit of endurance 
by the injustices and provocations of the latter. Three to 
four thousand soldiers are on the point of leaving St. Louis 
to subjugate the warlike tribes, and annihilate them if 
they can. The Government desires me to go thither as 
pacificator, and I will do so gladly if in any way my health 
allows it. As the old Flemish proverb says : " When the 



LITERARY ACTIVITY. 815 

legs creak the heart is good." The steamboat for the 
upper Missouri is to leave about the middle of next month, 
etc. 



St. Louis University, March 30, 1864. 

Reverend and dear Father Murphy: 

This, to be sure, is rather waiting too long, to write to 
your Reverence. I will try no excuse; yourself must have 
made it already. Immediately at my arrival in St. Louis 
toward the end of the year, I found the ledger and day- 
book gaping and calling for a closing. In order to appear 
decently before his Paternal eyes it took me about a month 
hard labor, cyphering and corresponding all the while, with 
the brethren scattered far and wide among the Osages and 
Potawatomies, in Illinois, in Wisconsin, in Ohio, Kentucky 
and Missouri. Next came my correspondence with Europe 
which required immediate attention. I wrote a letter of 
twenty-four pages, on my last journey and mission among 
the Indians, to Reverend Father-General, according to 
promise and as requested. I wrote another of twenty-six 
pages to my near and dear friends in Belgium, who be- 
lieved that I was dead and buried and I wanted to undeceive 
them by a long rigmarole of facts and dates. And then 
came Father Terwecoren, anxious to have some chaff and 
mixture to feed his Precis Historiques, and I gave him 
thirty-two pages. You see, dear Father, I have not been 
idle; and all the time I was sickly, * * * so I have 
been pretty much kept within doors; and thanks, after all, 
to these little miseries, being kept in, I was allowed and 
able to put out and let loose my flying sheets, under the 
wings of steam, by land and by sea. I hope my poor and 
little narrations will reach their various destinations and 
will obtain some prayers and some means, for the poor and 
destitute Indians and their poor and zealous missionaries. 



8l6 GREAT SPIRIT OR GREAT FATHER? 

I am now occupied in buying goods for the upper mis- 
sions, to the amount of about $3,000, I am allowed to 
draw for $1,400 on Father Congiato and shall have to look 
out and make an effort for the balance. And then comes 
my eight days' retreat, after which I am much panting. 
And should my health permit, I am next to enter again on 
another long and dangerous trip. I have been even re- 
quested, by the Commissioner of the Indian Department 
at Washington, to undertake the journey and to bring about, 
if possible, a peace among the hostile Sioux, acting in con- 
cert with the general of the troops and the appointed agents.^ 
They offer to pay all my expenses, with a handsome re- 
muneration for myself. Not being well as yet I have not 
accepted of their request. I fear I would lose all caste 
among the Indians. They have hitherto looked upon me 
as the bearer to them of the word of the Great Spirit and 
have universally been kind and attentive on all occasions 
and wherever I have met them. Should I present myself 
in their midst as the bearer of the word of the Big Chief 
of the Big Knives in Washington, no longer their Great 
Father, but now their greatest and bitterest enemy, it would 
place me in rather an awkward situation. I have written 
to the Commissioner, that if I can go, I will go on my own 
hook, without pay or remuneration ; visit the friendly Sioux 
first, and in their company try to penetrate among their 
fighting brethren and do my utmost to preach peace and 
good will to them, and to make them come to a good under- 
standing with the general in command and the agents of 
Government. It may be a month or somewhat longer before 
I shall be able to leave. Should I go, I am fully aware of 
the great dangers I may meet with ; but will be assured, 
at the same time, to be remembered in your holy sacrifices 
and prayers. 

2 See p. 833. 



CHASING THE YELLOWSTONE. 817 

On board the Yellowstone, Yankton city, capital of 
the Dakota Territory, 1,093 niiles from the 
mouth of the Missouri, May 17, 1864.^ 

A day of fine weather gives me an opportunity to send 
you a report of the progress that we are making, and of my 
new journey of 1864. The water is low, and we are con- 
tinually hindered by sandbars. We have barely advanced 
six miles in the last eight days. I spend my leisure hours 
in reading and in taking notes upon the Missouri, its nu- 
merous tributaries and the immense region of 500,000 
square miles which it drains. I examine, I draw upon my 
own fund of experience, I question the best-informed trav- 
elers, and then I write. I feel confident of being able to 
give you a pretty exact idea of this great and interesting 
portion of the vast American continent. First let me say 
a word of my departure from St. Louis. 

On the 1 6th of April the steamer Yellowstone left the 
port of St. Louis. I left on the night of the 20th, by the 
Northwestern railroad, hoping to outstrip the boat and meet 
it at St. Joseph. I even ventured as far as Leavenworth, 
in the company of our Reverend Father Provincial, to pre- 
sent my respectful homage to Monseigneur Miege, S. J., 
vicar apostolic for Kansas, and to our dear brethren in 
Jesus Christ. Upon my arrival, I learned, to my great sur- 
prise, that the Yellozvstone was fifteen hours before me and 
making good time, favored by a heavy rise in the river and 
a good moon. I therefore found myself under the hard 
necessity of taking a carriage and starting after the boat, 
on the right [left] bank, up hill and down, on a drive of 
200 miles. I will give a sketch of the aspect of this country, 
the greater portion of which is embodied in the State of 
Iowa. 

3 This and the following letter are translated from the third Belgian 
edition, volume V. To whom written not stated, but probably to the 
editor of the Precis Historiques. 
52 



8l8 CHANGES ALONG THE RIVER. 

I had traversed this same country in 1838, when I was 
going for the first time among the Potawatomies at Council 
Bluffs, with Father Verreydt, to open our first Indian mis- 
sion. All that region, then in its primitive condition, was 
in peaceable possession of the Indians ; it was a grazing 
ground for the numerous herds of wild animals that ranged 
it. I shall always recall, with interest, the impression made 
on my mind by the first sight of these interminable plains 
and lovely prairies, enameled with flowers and plants that 
were perfectly unknown to me; surrounded by forests and 
fringes of woods, which seemed to frame them and the lines 
of which one could follow into the distance. The axe of 
the woodman had not yet penetrated thither. The whole 
face of the country, for hundreds of miles in length and 
breadth, from the Missouri to the Mississippi, has been 
changed, within the last twenty-five years, under the influ- 
ence of civilization and the labor of an industrious people. 
One beholds with astonishment and admiration a succession 
of towns and villages in full prosperity, several of which 
already contain over 10,000 souls, like Leavenworth and 
St. Joseph. They are surrounded with vast and beautiful 
farms and immense pastures, where innumerable cattle are 
raised without trouble. Everywhere is heard the sound of 
the hammer on the anvil, and the puffing of steam in saw 
and gristmills. In all this region the soil is of extraordinary 
fertility. 

I reached the city of Omaha on the 25th of April. This 
time, fortunately, I had gotten ahead of the steamboat. 
Monseigneur O'Gorman, the vicar apostolic for Nebraska, 
since May 8, 1859, received me with the greatest benevo- 
lence and the most paternal charity. I had time, until the 
28th, to recover from my fatigues and to resume the reli- 
gious practices prescribed by our rules. This important point 
requires a particular effort in an American stage, where nine 
or ten persons find themselves shut up, crowded and 
squeezed as in a small boat, and this for two days and a 
night. Presently I took farewell of Monseigneur the Bishop, 



THE PRIEST AND THE PASSENGERS. 819 

and with his blessing received from His Grandeur all the 
necessary powers for exercising the holy ministry in his im- 
mense district, which embraces the Territories of Nebraska, 
Wyoming, Montana and a part of Dakota. I took the boat 
on the 28th of April. 

As on former occasions, Mr. Charles Chouteau received 
me on board his boat with his habitual kindness and cor- 
diality. He gave me the quietest and most commodious 
stateroom, and at once had an altar prepared therein. 
Thanks to his charity, I found myself installed as if at home 
in one of the Society's houses. I have the consolation of 
offering the holy sacrifice every day, in a kind of ante- 
chamber contiguous to mine. A good number of Catholics 
can assemble here, and they come every Sunday to assist 
at mass and fulfill their religious duties. 

Among our travelers, who are some 150 in number, we 
have all the various shades of the Protestant sects, deists, 
atheists and believers in " elective affinities," who have 
broken all marriage and family ties. On a long-distance 
American steamboat, a priest therefore finds abundance of 
occupation. In the crowd he always finds some persons 
who respond to the Lord's grace, willingly receive instruc- 
tion and are converted. One can awake better thoughts 
in most of them, and often remorse, which bears fruit later. 
When he first comes into the midst of such an assemblage, 
the priest is attentively observed : they seem to measure you 
from head to foot; it is like the curious beast in the men- 
agerie, they stare at you with surprise, and are rather slow 
in approaching you. But the first reserve once broken, you 
are overwhelmed with questions concerning all the points 
of religion, some quite often sensible, but ordinarily they 
are outlandish, sometimes even rude and indelicate; this 
denotes a profound and deplorable ignorance, which inspires 
only pity and compassion. 

From the 28th of April until this 17th of May, the boat 
has barely made 340 miles. It is constantly running 
aground on heaps of sand, which practically bar the river. 



820 DOING GOOD BY THE WAY. 

We are obliged to unload part of the cargo, to lighten the 
boat and permit it to cross, and this occasions great delays. 
These delays have given me opportunities to make excur- 
sions into the forests and prairies near the river, and prac- 
tice my holy ministry. Here is the result. 

In a point of woods called Oak Cove, in the Nebraska 
Territory, I found a Canadian who had been established 
there for eight years, and who was married after the fashion 
of the country, that is, by simple mutual consent, either 
before witnesses or a judge. His wife was a half-breed 
Blackfoot, and had received baptism in infancy, at the time 
of my first visit to her tribe. The first entrance of a priest 
at Oak Cove was a day of surprise and joy for the family. 
The father and mother were eager to have their four chil- 
dren baptized, and prepared at once to receive worthily the 
nuptial benediction. 

Upon the opposite bank, in the Dakota Territory, I en- 
tered a cabin occupied by a young half-breed Yankton chief 
and his family. He recognized me and saluted me affection- 
ately. I had baptized him upon one of my first visits to the 
Sioux. Later he had spent several years in our Indian 
school at St. Mary, among the Potawatomies. He presented 
to me his four sons, of whom the eldest was scarce six years 
old, and begged me to baptize them. 

Along the banks and at some wooded points, I have re- 
generated in the holy waters of baptism eighteen children 
belonging to the nation of the Winnebagoes, a good part of 
which is Catholic. I will give a brief note of what I was 
able to learn concerning their sad and unfortunate condition. 

Formerly they lived happy and contented near certain 
" branches " and lakes upon the upper Mississippi, where 
they occupied fine reservations. At the outbreak of the 
Sioux war in 1862, in which the Winnebagoes had taken 
no part, and in spite of their demonstrations of attachment 
to the whites, they were forced by the civil and military au- 
thorities to leave their peaceable abodes, their fair fields 
and gardens, and immediately their " reservation," which 



INHUMAN TREATMENT OF WINNEBAGOES. 821 

had been guaranteed them in perpetuity, was invaded by 
the whites. 

The allotment made by the Grovernment for the transpor- 
tation of these poor unhappy banished folk was quite con- 
siderable, and there was abundance of provisions. Nothing 
was omitted from the large promises that were made them, 
" to manage everything for them, to make them happy and 
comfortable in their new home, where they would lack noth- 
ing." About 2,000 Winnebagoes submitted, forcibly, to 
this agreement. Last year (1863) they were put on board 
steamboats, which were chartered for the conveyance of 
these strange figures (figures etranges) ; and set ashore on 
their new reservation, situated below the Big Bend of the 
Missouri, 1,363 miles from its mouth and about 3,000 
[300?] from their old dwelling-places. What preparations 
had been made to receive so many wretched beings, who 
saw themselves forced to leave their tents, cabins, fields, 
gardens, mills, fishing-grounds? They were given in ex- 
change a portion of desert, comparatively uncultivated and 
miserable, destitute of animals and game, and besides this, 
they were set down in the vicinity of the Sioux, their mortal 
enemies from ancient times. 

When they reached this place, the planting season was 
already too far along for favorable results. Last winter 
was long and severe. These savages were put on short 
rations. This spring they found themselves in addition 
without grain or seeds. A great number of their children 
have already died of destitution; for the most part, they 
have starved to death. To-day they are to be found scat- 
tered all over, in groups of two, three or four families, 
hiding upon the islands or along the shores of the Missouri. 
I was able to approach several of them, and, to their great 
joy, give baptism to eighteen of their little ones. Soldiers 
are stationed at different points along the river, to intercept 
them and take them back by force upon this " reservation " 
of desolation, where eighty of the poor wretches have suc- 
cumbed already. It is one more link attached to the long 



822 SIOUX REIGN OF TERROR. 

chain of cruelties and injustice inflicted upon the unhappy 
natives. Some of the newspapers have made an outcry, 
asking : " Who is to blame for this barbarous conduct 
toward the Winnebagoes ? " And the answer is "Who?" 
In fact, no light has yet been obtained upon this sad affair ; 
but an investigation has been made. May this be for the 
sake of form? I will let you know the results, if any are 
ever made known.^ 

On the nth of May, we found ourselves completely ar- 
rested by a sandbar a mile above Yankton, capital of the 
Territory of Dakota. This new town is still in its infancy. 
Its population consists of thirty or forty families. The 
capitol, the Governor's residence, and all the houses are 
made of logs and frame. Its situation upon the river, where 
the ground is high and sloping, is well chosen. Yankton 
will become a city of more and more importance, as the 
country settles up. 

Just now we are fairly stuck. The water continues low, 
and the difficulty of loading and unloading has been so 
great, that the captain has resolved to have a large boat, of 
the kind called Mackinaw, built, which will carry seventy- 
five tons of freight, to lighten the steamboat. 

The pioneer settlers are living here in a continual state 
of uneasiness, and are on the alert day and night. Though 
the Sioux are driven out of their ancient territory, far from 
the tombs where the ashes of their ancestors repose, bands 
of marauders still range their old domain, to rob and slay 
the invaders of their soil. Quite recently, six of the un- 
happy inhabitants have fallen at their hands. The paper of 
the loth of May announces, on hearsay, no doubt, that our 
boat will meet great opposition on the part of 3,000 Sioux 

* This forcible expatriation of the Winnebagoes, and the absurd 
scheme adopted of sending them from Mankato down the St. Peter's to 
Fort Snelling, thence down the Mississippi to the Missouri, thence up 
the latter stream to their new reservation, a total distance around of 
1,900 miles as against 300 miles overland, were public measures which, 
viewed from this distance, appear unjustifiable. 



WHITE men's cruelties. 823 

warriors, who are meditating an attack on Old Fort Clark, 
and resolved to dispute the passage of the river with boats 
that may try to go up. We can judge of the worth of this 
news in a few days. It is added that they are well armed ; 
they have two cannon, abundance of powder and lead, fire- 
arms and arrows. We shall see. I put my trust in the Lord's 
providence and the protection of the holy Virgin Mary, 
our kind mother. I am sent out by obedience, and under 
the auspices of the Government, in the capacity of " messen- 
ger of the word of peace." Still, it is impossible to deceive 
one's self — this is a very critical moment ; but si Dens pro 
nobis, qiiis contra nos? 

The situation is aggravated and peace rendered almost 
impossible by the recent occurrences which I have related 
in connection with the unhappy Winnebagoes, which have 
inflamed the hatred of the whites in every Indian heart; 
and also by the continual aggressions of our raw frontier 
soldiery, little habituated to military discipline, who aban- 
don themselves to all sorts of cruel and shameful excesses. 
Two instances will show you what I mean. 

Eight friendly Indians, riding at full speed, according to 
their custom, approached a troop of soldiers. The latter, 
not knowing the signal to stop them, called to them to halt. 
The Indians did not understand either the language or the 
order, and rode on. The soldiers fired on them and killed 
seven. The single one who escaped brought the news to his 
camp. The reprisals were terrible and barbarous. They 
took vengeance some time afterward, first by an attack upon 
a steamboat, in which four men were killed, and further 
by attacking a Mackinaw containing fifteen men, a young 
girl and a woman with two children, all of whom were 
massacred in the most frightful manner. 

Here is another. Some soldiers, in a state of drunken- 
ness, came to an Indian lodge in which several women were 
assembled. They grossly insulted the squaws, who tried 
to run to escape their brutality. Then they shot after them, 
and several of the poor creatures were struck and killed. 



824 AN UNTERRIFIED CANADIAN. 

That is enough about the causes which are augmenting 
the present difficulties and accumulating them around us. 
The Lord alone can appease the wrath and calm the hearts 
of the savages, inflamed by the spirit of hatred and ven- 
geance. Let us pray and hope in the divine mercy and the 
intercession of our kind Mother, Refugium nostrum. 

I will finish this rather long letter with a characteristic 
anecdote, very suitable to the people of this region. On 
the 23d I found a Canadian, who had a cabin near the river 
and a woodyard for the service of the steamboats. He 
spoke to me of the great dangers to which his family was 
exposed, by the proximity of the Sioux and their hostile 
nocturnal visits. I tried to give him some salutary advice, 
suited to his position, such as he no doubt needed very 
much. I wound up by recommending to him " to keep him- 
self always in readiness to receive the visit of the Lord; 
that he might come in the night when least looked for ; that 
it would be most unfortunate to appear before his judge 
without being well prepared." Evidently he had not under- 
stood a thing of my little harangue, and was thinking only 
of Sioux. He answered, "Father, it is as you say; they 
come unexpected, these terrible Sioux, and without giving 
warning fill you full of bullets and arrows. As for me, I 
am not prepared at all, because I am poor ; I have no powder 
nor balls to take my revenge. It is a sad situation, isn't it. 
Father? But to-day I have better luck. I have sold my 
wood to the boat ; I will buy bullets and powder. Then let 
them come, these villains of Sioux, and they will find me 
ready to receive them." This is about the way all these 
rangers of the wood and plains talk to you. They have 
been raised in religion, but that is all. They do not prac- 
tice it ; they say to you " when I was young I served the 
mass ; I made my first communion ; but in this country, 
where I have spent the greater part of my life, I have for- 
gotten everything." Moreover^ by their continual contact 
with the Indians, they have become imbued with their man- 
ners and their superstitious ideas. But they can be brought 



INTERVIEWS DURING STOPS. 825 

back, little by little, by gentleness especially, and by recalling 
to them the great truths of religion concerning the end of 
man. Why have we not here two dozen zealous mission- 
aries? Will Europe refuse them to us? 



Fort Berthold, June 24, 1864. 

(1,916 miles from St. Louis.) 

On the 25th of May the boat stopped a moment at the 
Yankton Agency, to allow me to visit a poor sick woman 
and tO' confer the sacrament of baptism on two children. 
The same day it stopped at Fort Randall, where six children 
received the same benefit. 

On the following day, while the boat was taking on its 
supply of wood for the day, I made my way into the forest. 
A rather roomy path brought me to a little hut not far from 
the river. The solitary inmate recognized me at the first 
glance and saluted me in the most affectionate manner. He 
was surprised but glad at the fortunate meeting. He called 
his Indian wife and they presented their children to me for 
baptism. 

May 31st, the boat halted at Fort Sully, the old Fort 
Pierre, to discharge part of its cargo. This stop gave me 
several hours ; I improved this time to take a little exercise, 
of which I had need after my long detention on the boat ; I 
utilized it also for the good of souls. The half-breeds in- 
vited me to come to the principal cabin, and directly there 
came the mothers to have ten of their children regenerated 
in the holy waters of baptism. 

The news of my arrival went out at once to two camps 
of Sioux Indians, the Kettles and the Yanktonnais; they 
observe a kind of neutrality, and hold more or less aloof 
from the hostile bands. The chiefs came to pray me to 
enter among them, saying " that the mothers had come out 
with their little ones, to put them under the special pro- 



826 YANKTONS WANT A SCHOOL. 

tection of the Great Spirit," that is to say, to receive bap- 
tism. They had gotten together and were squatting in a 
ring in the middle of the camp, in the open air. I gave 
them an instruction on the importance and necessity of 
baptism, and the principal dogmas of religion. They all 
appeared very attentive. 

An Indian assemblage, come to listen to the word of 
God or to be present at any religious act, always behaves in 
the most respectful manner, which is really edifying to see. 
Watching them under these circumstances, one would 
imagine himself among Christians, rather than among un- 
happy pagans. Before the instruction, the chiefs keep say- 
ing to the priest, " Black-robe, give us strong words, be- 
cause our hearts are so hard; we are ignorant as the ani- 
mals on our plains; we need to hear thee. Speak; we are 
listening." 

On the present occasion I distributed 164 images, bearing 
the names of the patron saints of the children baptized. I 
gave with each image a medal of the holy Virgin, to be 
borne about the neck as a token of their baptism. They 
keep these devotional objects with the greatest care. 

The chief of the Yanktons, called Man Who Strikes the 
Ree, begged me most earnestly to obtain them an estab- 
lishment for the instruction of their children. I promised 
that I would represent their distress and their good desires 
to the head chiefs of the Black-robes, that is, to the bishop 
and my superiors ; I told them to hope, and to prepare them- 
selves for this great favor by a good life, which would 
bring the blessings of the Great Spirit upon them. I then 
told them all about the Government's intentions in regard 
to them and the mournful consequences of war, and ex- 
horted them to continue to keep the peace. 

June 3d, as we went along, I espied sixteen lodges of 
Yanktonnais, grouped on a hill. They made us a signal to 
approach; we went to see them, and they invited us to a 
council, to deliberate upon the affairs of their country. 
They seemed irresolute, but hungry for news. We told 



SIOUX ORGANIZATION AND TACTICS. 827 

them all about the trouble the tribes that had become hos- 
tile were going to get into, and exhorted them to keep quiet. 

As we advanced farther into the hostile country, our 
crew had to be on the alert day and night, not to be sur- 
prised. 

A word upon the habits of the Indians of these parts will 
not be out of place. Our regular troops are going to meet 
these wandering tribes of marauders, exasperated to the 
highest pitch against the whites. The Sioux are five or 
six thousand warriors in number, mounted for the most 
part on swift horses. War is to them not only a business 
or a pastime, but the occupation par excellence of their lives. 
The tactics followed by these Indians renders the regular 
system of warfare impotent or almost useless. They are 
here to-day and somewhere else to-morrow. All at once 
they are scattering panic among the horses and mules of 
the emigrants, who are crossing the desert in long caravans, 
and then they reappear once more on the Missouri river, 
waiting for the passage of boats to pillage them and mas- 
sacre the feeble crews. The Indian has the gift of being 
everywhere without being anywhere. These savages as- 
semble at the moment of battle, and scatter whenever the 
fortune of war is contrary to them. The Indian puts his 
wife and children in shelter in some retired place, far from 
the scene of hostilities. He has neither towns, forts nor 
magazines to defend, nor line of retreat to cover. He is 
embarrassed with neither baggage trains nor pack-horses. 
He goes into action when a favorable occasion is presented, 
and never risks himself without having the advantage of 
numbers and position on his side. The science of strategy 
is consequently of little use in operating against such a peo- 
ple. There is not on earth a nation more ambitious of mili- 
tary renown, nor that holds in higher estimation the conduct 
of a valiant warrior. No Indian could ever occupy a place in 
the councils of his tribe until he had met the enemy on the 
field of battle. He who reckons the most scalps is most 
highly considered among his people. The redskins are 



828 STOP AT FORT BERTHOLD. 

strangers to all care, they live without artificial wants, they 
are happy as kings, provided that in the course of their whirl- 
wind vagabondage they can find buffalo and antelope. 
Every man among them is a warrior, and each has the con- 
scious conviction of his personal valor. 

As the boat advances, we perceive numerous traces of the 
passage of large herds of buffalo, along the shore. Be- 
tween the 4th and 7th of June, without stepping off the boat, 
our hunters killed ten buffalo in the water and on the bank, 
besides six antelope, a deer, a hare and two wolves. They 
took three calves alive, that had got mired and were strug- 
gling to escape from the mud. It is easy to raise these 
calves. 

On the 9th, the boat arrived at Fort Berthold," 1,916 
miles above the mouth of the Missouri. I stopped here to 
wait for news concerning the movements of the Sioux 
bands. I hastened to send them an express, to acquaint 
them with my arrival and intentions. I expect their re- 
sponse within a fortnight ; if it is favorable, I shall, with 
the Lord's grace, do my best to go to them in the interior of 
the country. 

The three united nations, the Grosventres, Aricaras and 
Mandans, received me with the utmost cordiality. They 
appeared to be delighted when I announced that I had come 
to spend some time in their village. On the following day, 
I collected the principal Mandans and Grosventres in one 
of their big lodges or earthen houses; they are about 150 
feet around and can contain over 600 persons. I made 
known to them the motives of my visit, which were to an- 
nounce to them the word of the Great Spirit, to baptize the 
little children, to penetrate, if possible, among their enemies, 
the Sioux ; and to endeavor, in the name of the Great Spirit, 
to make them relish the words of peace of which I was the 

5 Fort Berthold was built as a trading-post in 1845, but was occupied 
as a military post in 1864. It was the successor of Fort Clark, the 
old trading-post of the Mandan Indians. It was an important military 
post during the Sioux wars. 



ORATORY AND ROARS. 829 

bearer from the President of the United States, Mr. Lin- 
coln. I spoke for two hours, and they Hstened with the 
greatest attention and the hveHest interest. The chief, 
Manchoute, "Soaring War Eagle," (he is six feet six inches 
in height) addressed me in reply, in fitting and well-chosen 
words, accompanied by a really remarkable oratorical bear- 
ing and gestures. This facility in speaking seems to be 
natural to the Indians of the plains. In his long harangue, 
he thanked me particularly " for my good will or benevo- 
lence toward them," and expressed the hope " that my 
counsels and advice would be strictly followed and ob- 
served." In closing, he added : " I renew to-day the desire 
that I have already expressed for some years past: we are 
poor wretches and ignorant; we wish to know the way in 
which the Great Spirit orders us to walk on earth. Oh! 
let the Black-robes come and reside among us, to put us, 
with our wives and children, in the path of truth, and we 
shall live happy ! " 

After the advice and the speeches, the Indian mothers 
came into the lodge with their babies, and placed them- 
selves in a double and triple circle. What a consolation! 
Two hundred and four children were regenerated in the 
holy waters of baptism. Everything passed off in the best 
of order, though not altogether without noise. During the 
ceremonies, we were honored from time to time with a 
deafening chorus. All that was needed was for a young 
savage, seized with terror at the approach of the Black-robe, 
to exhibit the strength of his young lungs in piercing yells, 
to set all his comrades going in the same key. It was really 
enough to split one's ears. The dogs on the outside added 
to the uproar by reinforcing the cries of the children with 
their frightful howls and roars. But all in all, the loth was 
for me a beautiful and consoling day. The religious cere- 
monies occupied it all. Through the constant bending of 
my somewhat obese body, to give the baptism, I was 
scarcely able to move for several days afterward, met het 
geschot in den rug: with a " crick " in my back. 



830 COMPLAINTS OF THE ARICARAS. 

On the 1 2th, I was invited by the Aricara chiefs. After 
smoking the calumet, I opened the council by announcing 
to them the motives of my coming. Just as among their 
brethren the Mandans and Grosventres, my words were 
listened to with religious attention, and approved. The 
head chief, Net-soo-taka, or White Parfleche, made me a 
long and handsome response, very much to the purpose. 
Then I had to listen to and condole with a succession of 
complaints of their enemies and the Government agents. 
The meeting lasted three hours, or thereabouts. Then the 
men left the lodge and gave place to the mothers and their 
babies. I took my place in the middle of the lodge, seated 
on a buffalo-skin, and all the small children, to the number 
of 103, were presented to me by twos to receive baptism. 

On the 13th we had an alarm in the camp. A band of 
Sioux were perceived in the neighborhood. After having 
killed a Grosventre, wounded an Aricara and stolen some 
horses, they gained the open and escaped pursuit. 

I will add a circumstance which has contributed consid- 
erably to increase the Indian's respect for our holy religion. 
Last year, in consequence of an excessive drought, the har- 
vest had been very meagre ; they had hardly got enough for 
this year's seeding. Hoping for better results this time, 
these poor people had worked hard and put in something 
like a thousand acres. All their farm implements were a 
few mattocks and poor spades, with crooked or pointed 
sticks and shoulder-blades of buffaloes. After preparing 
this land in this manner, they had sowed it. Unluckily, 
this year again the spring had been without rain or even 
dew. Corn and other vegetables were not growing and 
their hope of a good crop was fast vanishing again. The 
Indians were feeling very bad about it. At the meeting 
on the 1 2th, they begged me to implore the aid of heaven 
to obtain them an abundant rain, that would fertilize their 
lands. " Black-robe," they said, " you who have such 
power, can you not also make a little rain come?" I an- 
swered them that I had not that power, that the Great 



DE SMET PRAYS FOR RAIN. 83 1 

Spirit alone is omnipotent; but that anything can be ob- 
tained from him by prayer. I exhorted them to have re- 
course to him, who is always ready to listen to humble and 
well-disposed hearts, since he says to us himself, " Ask and 
ye shall receive." I said further, " Let us implore heaven 
together, and offer our hearts to God. I will say the 
greatest of prayers (the mass). Let us hope in the in- 
finite mercy of the Great Spirit, who is our Father ; he sends 
help and grants protection to his children on earth, when 
they try to make themselves worthy." I offered to God 
the propitiatory victim. The next day, the 13th, the sky 
clouded up for the first time in a long while, and a gentle 
and abundant rain fell at intervals for about twenty-four 
hours. This fortunate circumstance filled all hearts with 
respect for the word of God, and at the same time with 
hope and joy. On the 17th we applied to heaven again, and 
the Lord granted us a second rain, which did much good. 
These favors from on high made a deep impression on 
these simple-minded Indians. 

They attended willingly, and with great assiduity, at all 
the instructions. A large number of adults, together with 
all the old men and old widows, the sick and the blind, 
prepared to receive baptism worthily. I find them really 
admirably disposed, and already the chiefs have taken it 
upon themselves to devise a remedy for the pagan vices and 
superstitions which have hitherto desolated the three tribes. 

I shall never forget the assistance so generously fur- 
nished me at the time of my arrival at the fort by the 
worthy Mr. Gerard, in charge of the establishment; Mr. 
Pierre Garreau, the interpreter; Mr. Gustave Cagnat, clerk, 
and all the employees. I shall not cease to make vows for 
their welfare. May the Lord repay them a hundredfold 
for their kindness and thoughtful charity toward me. 

I made an allusion to the eloquence of our Indian orators. 
This is the textual translation of the address of Little 
Walker, a Mandan chief, to the President of the United 
States : 



832 SPEECH OF A MANDAN CHIEF. 

" Great Father, I am desired to send you a word. What 
can I say? Once we were a powerful nation. What are 
we to-day ? Ask your agent ; he visits us every year — he 
knows our number, and he will say * Alas ! there are not 
many Mandans left.' What has become of them? What 
part of the earth do they occupy ? Great Father, look over 
the prairie, when it is covered with grass and dotted with 
beautiful flowers of all colors, pleasant to the sight and 
the smell. Throw a burning torch into this vast prairie, 
and then look at it, and remember the life and happiness 
that reigned there before the fire. Then you will have an 
image of my nation. My great ancient village was like 
this lovely prairie ; my people was this rich growth of grass ; 
our women and children were the flowers. The smallpox 
was the torch that set fire to and destroyed our fair gar- 
dens, of which, alas! only the memory remains to us. — 
But we have buried the spirit of hatred and vengeance. We 
no longer reproach the white man for having thrown the 
burning torch in our midst. 

" Death has thinned our ranks. Today three different 
peoples form only a single village. When the Aricaras 
and Grosventres are hungry and suffering, we share it with 
them. I have heard the speeches that our allies have made. 
I have thought it my duty to add my feeble voice, hoping 
that you will take pity on us and protect us against the 
attacks of our enemies. — Stretch out your powerful arm, 
and it will form a barrier so strong that the Sioux will not 
try to pass; and we shall sleep at peace, without bows and 
arrows at our side, — Assuredly, the strong and powerful 
will not hear in vain the weeping and sighing of the weak, 
who call on him for succor; especially when the weak can 
attribute to the strong all his troubles and the decadence of 
his nation." 

This language of Little Walker is not without eloquence. 
How say you ? 



THE MISSIONARY AND THE SOLDIER. 833 

''On July 8th another formidable party of Sioux warriors, 
to the number of 200 or 300, presented themselves before 
Berthold on the opposite bank of the river Missouri. It 
was clearly a risk to cross over to their side. Contrary to 
the advice of all the whites in the fort I went to meet them. 
They received me with unmistakable tokens of friendship 
and respect. They had repaired to the spot for the ex- 
press purpose of having a conference with me. The council 
lasted nearly three hours. The great chiefs spoke favor- 
ably with regard to peace, and heard with pleasure and sat- 
isfaction the words I addressed to them on the part of the 
Government. Our interview concluded in the most favor- 
able manner. 

During my stay at Berthold I received tidings of the 
great tribe of the Santee Sioux who had the chief hand in 
massacring the inhabitants of the State of Minnesota in 
1862. They reckoned, on that occasion, above 700 hap- 
less victims, most of them children, women and old men. 
Their present abode is on the English frontier, on the 
north. I was assured that they too would be glad to see 
me and hear the announcements I was authorized to make 
on the part of the Government. Before setting out to 
them I wished to consult the general of the army, which 
was 5,000 men strong, and inform myself of his dispositions 
toward the savages. So I descended the Missouri and at 
a distance of about 200 miles I found the great camp of 
the whites. I gave the general an account of my mission 
and of my different interviews with the Sioux. He told me 
plainly that circumstances obliged him to punish by force of 
arms all the Sioux tribes that harbored in their camps any 
murderers of white men. " Unfortunately," he added, 
" all the Indian camps harbor some of these desperate 
ruffians, over whom the chiefs have little or no power." 

* Fragment found loose in one of the letter-books without date or 
other means of identification, but evidently relating to the subject of 
Father De Smet's expedition in 1864, referred to in the preceding letter. 

53 



834 THE MISSIONARY RETIRES. 

In consequence of the general's declaration and the cir- 
cumstances of the case, my errand of peace, though sanc- 
tioned by the Government, became bootless and could only 
serve to place me in a false position : namely, that of being 
face to face with the Indians without being able to do them 
the least service. So I took the resolution of returning 
to St. Louis. I reported to the Government all that had 
passed during my stay in the plains. 

At the post of Berthold there are three tribes united in 
one large village, numbering about 3,000 souls. The Min- 
netarees, or Grosventres, the Aricaras and the Mandans. 
They welcomed me with the greatest cordiality. They 
seemed enraptured when I told them that I was going to 
spend some time in their village. 

The day after my arrival I gathered together all the 
principal chiefs or braves in one of their great lodges or 
clay houses, which are from 100 to 200 feet in circum- 
ference and will hold more than 600 people. I acquainted 
them with the reasons of my coming, viz : first to preach 
to them the word of the Great Spirit ; second, to administer 
baptism to all children who had not yet received it; third, 
to introduce myself, if possible, among their enemies the 
Sioux, and endeavor, in the name of the Great Spirit, to 
make them relish the words of peace, of which I was the 
bearer on the part of the President of the United States. 
My address lasted two hours. 



Letter to Father Imoda, 
near Sun river, August 6, 1865. 

You, no doubt desire to know what I have been at for 

these months. Here is a little synopsis of it which you 

will please communicate to Father Giorda and to the other 



PROJECTS FOR MISSIONS, 835 

Fathers : On the 20th of April, 1864, I left St. Louis for the 
upper country on a mission from the Government, to en- 
deavor to obtain a peace with the w^hites among the Sioux. 
Owing to various circumstances the object of my mission 
failed. The Indians I met felt pretty well disposed, at least 
as to appearances, but the military authorities thought it 
could not be granted without the Indians surrendering all 
the murderers of Minnesota of 1862, which was altogether 
impracticable, or rather impossible, I spent the greater 
portion of the summer (1864) among various Sioux bands, 
among the Aricaras, the Mandans and the Minnetarees or 
Grosventres of the Missouri, I had the great consolation 
to baptize over 700 of their little children and a great num- 
ber of adults, chiefly old men and women in extreme old 
age, and persons in danger of death by sickness, I was sev- 
eral times in great danger on the part of the Sioux ; even a 
plot was laid, on one occasion, to murder me and my band of 
whites, had not kind Providence interfered. A chief recog- 
nized me and attributed to me the deliverance of his daugh- 
ter, a captive among the Crows. At the earnest request of 
the chieftain, I had offered the holy sacrifice of the mass for 
her return. She made a miraculous escape from her ene- 
mies, though pursued by a large band of young warriors, and 
succeeded in reaching her father in safety after a six days' 
flight with very little repose. 

If the thing be possible and the times allow of it, one or 
two missions will be established — one among the well-dis- 
posed Sioux, and one for the three above-named tribes. At 
the end of August, 1864, 1 returned to St. Louis. I proceeded 
to Washington in the beginning of September, to give an 
account of my visit among the Indians to the Government. 
Having no written authorization to show, either from 
Father Giorda or Grassi, I could effect nothing with the 
Commissioner of Indian Affairs — An authority should be 
sent to me in proper order and if possible signed by the Gov- 
ernor of the Territory, who acts as Superintendent over the 
Indians. Whilst in Washington I was not a little surprised 



836 INTERVIEWS WITH THE POPE. 

to see, from a letter to Father Van Gorp from San Fran- 
cisco, how unwelcome and uncharitably the poor sisters 
had been received by F. C. The thing is unaccountable to 
me. I wrote to his Reverence on the subject. I have not 
received an answer. I would like to hear some explanation 
given on the subject, in the interest of the missions, and 
would thank Father Kuppens for it, being at that time on 
the spot. I now rejoice that, notwithstanding the en- 
deavor to the contrary of F. C, the good sisters have 
reached the mountains. 

Toward the end of September I was back in St. Louis. 
The Father Provincial had received meanwhile, a letter 
from the Father-General with a permit and invitation for 
me to come over to Europe. I left New York on the 20th 
of October and arrived in Rome on the 9th of November. 
The next day I had the great consolation to assist at the 
solemn beatification of blessed Canisius. I saw his Holi- 
ness different times and shall ever remember his paternal 
kindness. In December I returned to Belgium ; visited dif- 
ferent cities; visited Holland, the Duchy of Luxembourg, 
England and Ireland. I met with proper success every- 
where. On the 7th of last June I embarked in Liverpool 
with four candidates from Holland, five from Belgium and 
three from England, besides four sisters of Ste. Marie from 
Namur. We had a prosperous and happy sea voyage. We 
landed in New York on the 19th of June — left New York 
on the 26th and arrived in St. Louis on the 30th, safe and 
sound with all my companions, who are now in their pious 
avocations in the novitiate. 



Mr. Charles Chouteau, the great benefactor of the mis- 
sions, has sold out his whole concern in the trading posts 
on the Missouri river, except at Fort Benton. He may 
even sell that post before long. This would bring a great 
contrariety in regard to the upper missions, as freight on 
all the goods might be exacted, which would make a con- 



JEHOVAH JIREH. 837 

siderable amount. However, let us hope in kind Providence. 
Should Chouteau cease running on the Missouri, some other 
kind friend might step in his footsteps. I shall try my best. 
Remember your benefactors in your holy sacrifices and 
prayers and do not forget me. 

Remember me to all the good Fathers and Brothers, par- 
ticularly to the Reverend Father Giorda, to whom I shall 
soon write. Should this letter reach your Reverence you 
will please communicate to him and to Father Grassi its 
full contents. 



CHAPTER IV. 

OCEAN AND RIVER VOYAGES OF 1 865 AND 1 866. 

Bringing recruits to America — A dash through England — Neptune 
still on duty — Whales and icebergs — War news — Embarrassing re- 
ception at home — Up the river again — Description of boat and crew — 
Occupations of travelers — Scenery and natural history — A buffalo 
farce — Damage by high water — Violence of current — Prepared for 
battle — Sufferings and wrongs of friendly Indians. 

Ostende, June 2, 1865.^ 

93 T six o'clock this evening, I leave anew my native 
^^ country, my family, my friends ; my benefactors, my 
brothers in religion. Adieu, adieu to all — and who knows ? 
it may be forever, until the supreme reunion in heaven. 

This separation — why should I not own it? gives me no 
small heartache; but I hope to be able to work yet a little 
for the glory of God and the salvation of souls ; this is the 
supernatural magnet which draws me so far away from 
dear Belgium and the affection that I have found here. I 
always miss something when I am not among my good 
Indians; notwithstanding the kindly welcome that I meet 
everywhere, for the sake of my apostolic mission, I am 
conscious of a certiin void wherever I go, until I come 
again to my dear Rocky Mountains. Then calm comes back 
to me ; then only am I happy. Hccc rcquies mca. You will 
readily understand : after having passed a good share of 
my life among the Indians, it is among them that I desire 
to finish the few years that are left me still ; it is among 
them also, if it be the will of God, that I desire to die. Ah ! 
this would be my last and greatest happiness on earth. 

Before going on board the steamship which is to trans- 
port me from Ostende to London, I wish to thank once 
more my countrymen who have been so kind to me, and 

1 From the French of the third Belgian edition. 
[838] 




PORTRAIT OF FATHER DE SMET, SHOWING THE LF.OrOLD DECORATIOI 



SUCCESSFUI- EUROPEAN TRIP. 839 

in especial my benefactors. I thank God, my journey in 
Europe has been blessed; I leave content, and go home 
happy. All the persons who have taken an interest in my 
mission will learn with pleasure that I am taking with me 
thirteen young men and one of our Fathers. They are 
going to devote themselves to the great work of civilization 
by means of the gospel, the only one that is possible, as I 
have satisfied myself in many places in well nigh forty-five 
years of continual missionary labor. Together with these 
companions, I am taking to America four Sisters of Saint 
Mary, of those whose mother-house is at Namur, You will 
observe that the mission to the Rocky Mountains is in some 
sort a Belgian work, like that of Calcutta. 

On Wednesday, the 7th of this month, with the grace of 
God, we shall embark at liverpool for New York, on the 
steamer City of Nczv York. We hope to arrive for the 
feast of Saint Louis Gonsaguez. 

Now I have only to request your prayers and masses for 
a fortunate voyage. This will be the ninth time that I have 
crossed the great ocean, under the protection of heaven, 
with an entire and filial confidence in the Star of the Sea, 
Stella maris, the kind Mother of us all. I shall pray for all 
the persons with whom I have come in contact, and will 
have the Indians pray for them. May we, some day, meet 
again in paradise ! On earth, everything is vanity, nothing 
entirely satisfies the heart ; I have had many opportunities 
of convincing myself of this, having traveled and talked 
with men of all religions, all opinions and all classes of 
society : believers, that is, children of the Church, are the 
happiest ; and it is among them also that those are found 
who make others happy ; they have not their personal inter- 
ests in view, but act out of pure devotion and charity. 

Adieu ! I shall continue to send you accounts of my 
travels. The journal of the present voyage begins to-day 
with our departure from Ostende. 

Instead of waiting to send it from New York, if kind 
Providence should permit us to reach that place, I will add 



840 FLYING TRIP THROUGH ENGLAND. 

to this letter a curious little matter that I have found in my 
notes. It is the Indian tradition of the rainbow. It will be 
seen that the biblical truths find traditional confirmations 
in all places, even among savages who live in countries the 
most remote from all communication. How, after so many 
proofs of our holy and so consoling religion, can so many 
remain incredulous? That is what I have never been able 
to understand, nor shall I ever. 



University of St. Louis, Aug. 24, 1865.^ 

I have been back in St. Louis since the end of June. 
Pressure of work and the little indispositions that have dis- 
abled me since my arrival, have delayed the sending of this 
letter. 

Agreeably to the promise I made you upon leaving Brus- 
sels, I will give you a little sketch of my voyage, although 
there is nothing especially interesting to tell. It was quiet 
and fortunate, which is saying a good deal in a few words. 

I left Tronchiennes and Ghent, with my dear traveling 
companions, on the 2d of June. Toward six in the even- 
ing, we embarked at Ostende and took our farewell of 
Monsieur Albert Montensj my dear brother-in-law Charles 
Van Mossevelde, of Termonde, and the other friends who 
had accompanied us to the landing place. We had serene 
and beautiful weather for our passage of the channel. 

The next day, about eight in the evening, we landed at 
St. Catherine's quay in London. Father MacCann and a 
young Jesuit, not a priest, were awaiting us with several 
carriages. It took us nearly an hour to cross this quarter 
of the great modern Babylon and reach the Liverpool sta- 
tion. Toward noon an express train took us away. We 
went very fast. We had little time to contemplate the rich 
and beautiful fields, the numerous cities, the big towns and 
villages; all disappeared like a flash. Toward six in the 

2 From the French of the third Belgian edition. 



A FORTUNATE VOYAGE. 84 1 

evening we arrived at our destination and took lodging at 
the Queen's Hotel. We had been almost fasting since we 
left Ostende. You can easily imagine that we did honor to 
the great roast of beef and other dishes that passed rapidly 
under our hands. 

The good Fathers of Liverpool were most fraternally 
thoughtful of us and overwhelmed us with tokens of friend- 
ship, goodness and charity. 

On the 7th, we took leave of them. Reverend Father 
Weld, the Provincial, and several other Fathers conducted 
us on board the fine new vessel, the City of New York. 
About five in the afternoon the anchor was weighed and we 
left the harbor. I had taken the precaution to engage our 
seventeen places two weeks beforehand. The first night out, 
the engine got out of order and the boat stopped for several 
hours. During the forenoon of the next day, we cast an- 
chor in the port of Queenstown, in Ireland, to take on 
passengers and the mails. The number was then complete ; 
it approached 450. All the nations of Europe and America 
were represented. 

Our crossing may be reckoned among +^he most fortunate 
ever made ; no tempest, no accident, only three of my com- 
panions and three of the sisters were called upon by the 
inexorable Neptune, and were forced to submit to pay him 
tribute. Each of them had to show him his or her pale 
face, and make gestures and grimaces which sometimes 
caused a good deal of mirth. 

We saw a great many whales, some of them very near. 
They passed majestically near the sides of the vessel and 
projected two columns of foam from their nostrils. Other 
large sea-fish also showed themselves very numerously. 

For several days the air was very keen and chilly. All 
made haste to get out their winter coats. This was not 
strange ; we were gradually approaching the floating masses 
of ice, detached from the glacial pole. Several in fact came 
within reach of our curious gaze. It was the first time that 
most of the passengers had enjoyed this marvelous sight; 



842 WAR DRAWING TO A CLOSE. 

SO they opened their eyes wide and could not tire of con- 
templating these transparent isles, until finally they disap- 
peared in the distance. One of these mountains of ice had 
the appearance of an immense amphitheatre, seen at the dis- 
tance of a quarter of a league. 

Every day some sailing vessels and steamships were sig- 
naled. The direct route between Liverpool and New York 
is very much frequented. In case of a meeting the national 
flag is hoisted on both ships, and the pilot continues to keep 
his eye on the compass, not deviating by a mark from his 
course. Only on signals of distress do they approach and 
communicate. 

We had several days of fog in the vicinity of the banks 
of Newfoundland, where codfishing is carried on on a large 
scale. It is a noted region for mist and rain. I do not re- 
member to have passed there once, in all my various cross- 
ings of the Atlantic, in calm and serene weather. As long as 
the fog lasts, day and night, the great steam whistle of the 
boat is blown every five minutes, to avoid collisions. 

Early on the morning of the 19th we came in sight of 
Sandy Hook. The American pilot had come aboard the 
night before, with his package of newspapers. On step- 
ping on deck he found himself besieged by a crowd of 
curious people, eager to learn the great recent happenings 
in the United States. The journals were devoured and dis- 
cussed with ardor, for we had amongst us many politicians 
of the old and new hemispheres, and a large number of 
merchants. 

I learned with consolation that the sad and unhappy 
American war was drawing to its close, that quiet was re- 
turning among the masses, and that law and order, despite 
the abolition of slavery, seemed to be returning little by 
little in the States where secession had caused so many mis- 
fortunes and ruins. The spontaneity of spirit of the people 
of the South, which precipitated so large a number of States 
into the rebellion, caused likewise at the North a general 
rally to the Union. To-day, no one in the South seems to 



SPLENDOR OF NEW YORK. 843 

think any longer of undertakings hostile to the Govern- 
ment. The majority of the Southerners ask nothing but 
a fair chance and the means of lifting themselves up once 
more. A true policy must tend to assure a solid peace and 
durable prosperity. It is to be hoped that President John- 
son will remove from his side the vengeful agitators, and 
then the return to the Union will render this land more 
beautiful, prosperous and great than it has ever been. But 
the more violent and widespread the fire, the longer time 
will it take to extinguish it. The American torment has 
been disastrous in its effects ; but the wisdom of the people 
will avail to heal it in the end, at least we must hope so. 

On the 19th, toward nine in the morning, the City of 
New York entered the vast harbor of the great American 
metropolis, which contains to-day more than 1,100,000 in- 
habitants. What strikes the stranger first on his arrival 
in New York, is the splendor of the public establishments, 
of the great hotels and houses ; her commerce and prosperity, 
her luxury and extravagance. The war has been a gold 
mine to the city; the great contracts have made it wealthy 
in the last four years. 

On the day of our arrival, we dined at St. Francis 
Xavier's College. Our Fathers received us with the most 
perfect cordiality and the most fraternal charity. Their es- 
tablishment is very prosperous and contains about 500 
pupils. It is very popular. The city government, the 
members of which are for the most part Protestants, granted 
it in the course of the year a subsidy of $4,000. 

My companions needed exercise ; they took it by ranging 
the city and its environs, and visiting the most interesting 
public buildings. I had my missionary affairs to think of. 
I obtained free entry for all our boxes and trunks. The 
chief of the custom-house, to whom I presented myself with 
a good recommendation, was extremely civil to me. 

In the morning of the 26th, we took the railroad at Jersey 
City, by way of Cincinnati, where we tarried eight hours to 
visit our dear brethren of St. Xavier's College. Finally 



844 THE GOSPEL OF SEVERITY. 

we reached St. Louis on the 29th of June. It was the feast 
of Saints Peter and Paul. We were in time to attend the 
solemn distribution of prizes which took place that day at 
our university. I was truly delighted to be at the end of my 
long travels, with all my companions, safe and sound. I 
was moved to the bottom of my heart at finding myself 
among my dear brothers in Jesus Christ. I went at once to 
join them in the hall where the exercises were taking place. 
There was a great audience present to hear the addresses 
of the pupils and witness the giving of the prizes. To my 
great surprise and confusion, my return was saluted by 
them with clapping of hands and stamping of feet. I will 
admit that at this moment I was far from being at my ease. 

A word in regard to the Indians, and I am done. My ail- 
ments and the lateness of the season prevent me from visit- 
ing my dear Indians this year. The war against the In- 
dians in the plains of the Missouri and its tributaries is 
being pushed to the utmost. Congress lately made an in- 
quiry into the barbarous conduct of Colonel Chivington, 
accused of having ordered the massacre by his soldiers of 
600 Cheyenne Indians, women, children and old men, with- 
out the slightest provocation on their part. The poor 
wretches had come to the fort to renew their professions of 
friendship to the whites. 

To-day's papers announce to us the circular of General 
Conner, commanding the expedition against the tribes of 
the Yellowstone river and its tributaries, in which he out- 
lines the policy to be pursued toward the Indians, The 
general enjoins upon his troops to pursue these unfortu- 
nates without rest, never stopping to parley with them and 
never leaving their trail before coming up with and chas- 
tising them. " They must be severely punished to begin 
with," he says ; " then we will see whether, by good be- 
havior, they show themselves worthy to escape complete 
extermination." Always the same atrocious policy. The 
cruelties committed upon the redskins will inevitably bring 



c 



THE VOYAGE OF THE ONTARIO. 845 

about reprisals, and the promised extermination will like- 
wise follow inevitably. I hope to see these poor tribes 
again soon. 



Reverend and Dear Father:^ 

Your most dear letter of the 27th of March last, with 
the beautiful and fraternal note of the venerable Father 
Tranqueville, have reached me safely. They come to 
surprise and console me amid the mournful and savage 
wilderness in which I find myself at present, the desolation 
of which seems still more sombre and terrible by reason 
of the war of vengeance and retaliation which has been 
raging with fury between the whites and the Indians for the 
past four years. I have just received your good letters, at 
this great distance from St. Louis, by the mail-post, or ex- 
press. They will be to me an encouragement and a con- 
solation, in my long and dangerous mission and excursion 
among the nomadic tribes of this vast region. I hasten to 
reply, with the most sincere gratitude, taking advantage also 
of the present occasion to commend myself, as well as the 
conversion of all the Indian tribes, in a most special manner, 
to your holy sacrifices and your good prayers. * 

3 Written in French and dated on board the steamer Ontario at Fort 
Benton, Mont., June 10, 1866. To whom addressed not stated. From 
the Linton Album, p. 82 et seq. 
* Passport from General Sherman to Father De Smet : 

Headquarters MiHtary Division of the Mississippi, 
St. Louis, Mo., April 9, 1866. 
All officers of the Army within this Military Division are required, 
and all citizens are requested to extend to the bearer of this letter, the 
Reverend Father De Smet, a Catholic Priest who has heretofore trav- 
eled much among the Rocky Mountains and is now en route for mis- 
sions under his control, all the assistance and protection they can to 
enable him to fulfill his benevolent and humane purposes. 

He has always been noted for his strict fidelity to the interests of 
our Government, for indefatigable industry and an enthusiastic love for 
the Indians under his charge. 

W. T. SHERMAN, 

Ma j .-Gen. 



846 WHAT A STEAMBOAT WAS LIKE. 

You ask me to send you some word from time to time, 
and to keep you informed in regard to the occurrences of 
such a journey, and go into minute details upon the sort of 
life that one leads upon a long-distance steamboat in the 
" Far West." 

I shall endeavor to satisfy you. First as to the boat, on 
board of which I am. The steamer Ontario has a single 
wheel at the stern. It was built in 1863, carries 450 tons or 
900,000 pounds, avoirdupois, draws thirty inches of water 
light, and has three boilers, which consume eighteen to 
twenty cords of wood daily. A cord of wood is eight feet 
in length by four in height and four in depth, and sells on 
the Missouri for $4 to $8 per cord. 

The Ontario has two engines of 132 horse-power, and is 
already considered as past its prime. The constant service 
in which boats are kept on our great rivers of the West, 
where commerce and transportation are very considerable 
and much varied, uses them up in a very few years. They 
have to contend with impetuous currents, to ascend rapids, 
to cross banks or bars of sand or mud, where the full power 
of the capstan has to be exerted to get them over. Snags, 
or forest trees which drop into the current by thousands 
from the crumbling banks, and whose roots become im- 
bedded in the bottom of the stream, often form dangerous 
and formidable barriers or obstacles, upon which a great 
number of steamers are wrecked or seriously damaged every 
year. 

Going against the current, the Ontario makes five to six 
miles an hour; with the current, fifteen to eighteen miles. 
Her crew consists of a captain, two clerks, two pilots and 
an assistant, two engineers, two mates, a steward, two 
watchmen, one head cook and two assistants, one hotcllier 
[barkeeper?], seven cabin boys, a porter or baggage man, 
eight deckhands (white), four firemen, nineteen negroes 
for all the work of the boat, and one chambermaid.^ 

^ This is one of the most complete descriptions of the Missouri river 
steamboat extant. 



HOW THE DAYS WERE SPENT. 84/ 

The main cabin of the Ontario consists of thirty state- 
rooms, seven feet long by six wide, and with two berths 
each. There are thirty-two first class passengers, fifteen 
gentlemen, twelve ladies and five children. In the matter 
of religion, there are among these some ten Catholics, Pro- 
testants of diverse shadings, freethinkers or infidels and a 
few Jews. All this mixture is wafted in peace over the 
American waters. It is for the priest to make himself " all 
things to all men," to win them to Jesus Christ, according 
to the beautiful maxim of the apostle. I say mass in my 
stateroom, where I have scarce room to turn about at the 
" Domiims vobisciun " and the " Orate fratres." Sundays 
and feast days I leave the door open, and the Catholics 
come to attend the divine service, outside, on the gangway; 
each time I have had the consolation of seeing several chil- 
dren of the Church devoutly approach the holy table. I 
often have an opportunity to discuss one or other point of 
our holy religion with my traveling companions, who never 
weary of asking me questions, and I invariably find them 
upright, attentive and respectful. 

One Protestant lady has been regenerated in the holy 
waters of baptism, and I venture to hope that several others 
will have the good fortune to follow her example, for their 
fidelity to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the Lord's 
grace. 

The long days are passed in social conversations, some- 
times political, sometimes scientific or religious. Story- 
tellers or jokers are never lacking in an assemblage of 
American travelers. Some read, others play at cards or 
dice, or perhaps checkers or other games of chance, the 
names of which are unknown to me. Evenings, we amuse 
ourselves by proposing charades — somebody imitates some 
animal or other, as the antelope or buffalo, or suggests 
some word or question, and the audience guesses. But the 
principal amusement, in the main cabin, appears to be danc- 
ing to the sound of music, and on moonlight nights there 
are concerts out on deck, with mirth and refreshments. 

\ 



848 PHYSICS OF THE MISSOURI. 

The Missouri, or Muddy river, has an ordinary width of 
one to three miles; its length, up to the Three Forks, is 
nearly 3,300 [2,546] miles. It goes winding down this long 
course and often changes its channel, thus rendering very 
watchful and expert pilots necessary, who judge the depth 
of water by the appearance of the surface, and in spots 
where the water spreads out over a wide expanse they have 
recourse to the lead. 

In the season of high water, in spring, the Missouri has 
generally two great rises. The first begins with the melting 
of the snows on the immense plains of the West. Then the 
numerous tributary streams discharge their superabundance 
of water into the mother river, which gathers them all into 
its vast bed. The second rise comes down from the Rocky 
Mountains and their subordinate chains, the chief of which 
in the upper country are the Black Hills, the Bell Moun- 
tains, the Little Rocky Mountains, the Bear Paw Range, 
the Coteau of the Prairies, etc. All these masses of water 
united often form an impetuous and irresistible torrent, 
which cuts away whole fields from one side and forms sand- 
banks and bars on the other. The water filters and pene- 
trates into, and saps the base even of the high hills and bluffs 
that line the river, which crumble beneath their weight and 
often drop down to the river surface, or disappear entirely in 
its bed. These bluffs and hills, cut in half, are very nu- 
merous and remarkable, and reveal to the geologist all the 
different layers of which they are formed, to a height of 
more than a hundred feet. 

When the boat stops to cut and load wood, which takes 
ordinarily one to two hours, some passengers busy them- 
selves fishing or hunting, while the greater number go walk- 
ing over the adjacent hills or through the forests along the 
river, making bouquets of the flowers of the wilderness or 
picking up shells and petrifactions of various varieties. 
Geologists and amateurs of natural science examine the di- 
verse formations and layers of the soil. I will give you a 



GEOLOGY OF THE BLUFFS. 849 

little general notice of our observations, which may perhaps 
interest you. 

From Independence to Fort Leavenworth, a distance of 
sixty-five miles, the river passes between a long series of 
bluffs and hills, belonging to the tertiary system of rocks. 
From the city of Omaha to Benton, the bluffs and hills 
have an elevation of about 1 56 feet ; they are based upon 
erratic layers of rocks of varying dimensions, containing 
little shells rounded by the water, up to rocks of several 
thousand pounds thickness [weight?].*^ The following 
layer is a coarse-grained tufa, often covered with plates or 
leaves of some laminated metal; this is followed by a layer 
of fine-grained tufa, mingled with mica. This tufa-like 
stone is quite soft, and contains slight layers of gypsum, 
which disappear in the neighborhood of Heart river. As 
we proceed, we observe everywhere layers of yellowish or 
grayish limestone, often topped with blue clay, which con- 
tain petrifactions (Lymnea) of various species. Other lay- 
ers consist of argillaceous sands intermingled with a great 
quantity of oxide of iron, in the form of brownish or red- 
dish balls of different sizes ; layers of lignites, one to seven 
feet in thickness, extend for a distance of about a thousand 
miles. Farther on we find in abundance deposits entirely 
made up of petrified woods. This long series of bluffs and 
hills, as far as the Bad Lands, are often crowned with er- 
ratic blocks of stone of varying dimensions ; heaps of petri- 
fied shells abound in several places, to the very hill-tops. 

In regard to our little hunts. Our hunters, without going 
any great distance from the boat, killed a great number of 
antelope; this is the quickest and most graceful animal of 
the plains. The stratagems employed by the hunter arouse 
its curiosity. He walks, runs, crawls on all fours, lies down, 
shakes from time to time his handkerchief on the end of 
his ramrod ; the antelope, drawn by his natural curiosity, 
stops, approaches in short springs, looks, stares, and at last 

® French epaisseur. 
54 



850 A BUFFALO ENTERTAINMENT. 

receives the fatal shot. The flesh is fine and deHcate. Herds 
of buffalo are very numerous this year, especially in the 
neighborhood of the Bad Lands. It is the daily bread of 
the Indian tribes in the upper plains. The various tables 
of the Ontario are well supplied at present with the exquisite 
meat of this noble animal. Yesterday (June 2d) we were 
all spectators of a striking scene, in which buffalo alone were 
the actors. The theatre was the most wonderfully wild and 
picturesque part of this region. Mountainous hills rise here 
to a height of 500 to 1,000 feet. They are wholly sterile, 
stony, adorned here and there with a few dark and solitary 
pines, while their smiling valleys are covered with flowers 
and herbage, and thousands of buffalo were cropping the 
tender grass as we approached. 

As soon as they got wind of man's proximity and heard 
the noise of the steamer, they rushed precipitately to the 
nearest bluffs, whose slopes were fully 60° with the 
horizontal, and by pushing on and climbing stoutly in 
zigzag lines, they gained the summit. The dark, living, 
winding lines, the columns of dust that followed them, from 
the bottom to the top, and the noise of their tread and their 
dull bellowing, furnished the spectators a most charming 
and imposing spectacle, and moreover a revelation concern- 
ing the agility, muscular strength and capacity for endur- 
ance of this mighty animal of the American desert. 

But the buffalo had not yet showed all their accomplish- 
ments ; as in all spectacles a farce is usually the closing 
piece, so here three old buffalo bulls gave us one after their 
kind. The spot chosen was an almost vertical hill 
(something like 75° slope, and nearly a thousand feet in 
height). The bulls found themselves just about in the mid- 
dle of the slope ; it was hard to see how they could have got 
there. At the approach of the boat they made prodigious 
efforts to clamber up and gain the top. All eyes were fixed 
upon them; our cheers were a powerful encouragement to 
high speed. One reached the goal, and received the ap- 
plause of the spectators; his two companions strained their 



BIGHORN IN THE BAD LANDS. 85I 

best, but Still they slipped down; and beginning to slide 
with their enormous weight, they rolled head over heels, 
and by a long series of bumps and pirouettes, at a height 
of 400 or 500 feet, they came tumbling into the river within 
a few yards of the boat. The entire descent was accom- 
plished in less than a minute. We supposed they were 
killed ; but not the least in the world — to our great aston- 
ishment and admiration they rose to the surface and, snort- 
ing, blew the water from their nostrils. Their life was 
granted them — for the reason that our larder was well 
stocked. We saw them both reach shore, shake the watef 
from their shaggy heads and necks, and each triumphantly 
hoisting his standard (his tail), they disappeared at full 
gallop. 

In all the Bad Lands region, for a stretch of about a hun- 
dred miles, bands of bighorn are very numerous. The big- 
horn has a body like a deer, but his head resembles that of 
the goat, surmounted with an enormous pair of short, heavy 
horns. He haunts the inaccessible peaks and the wildest 
and least frequented valleys, climbing with ease and celerity 
almost perpendicular cliffs, jumping from rock to rock and 
grazing on the tender grass that he finds among them. The 
flesh, when the animal is fat, is more tender, succulent and 
delicious than that of any other animal. In its habits the 
bighorn resembles very much the chamois of Switzerland, 
and it is hunted in the same manner. They go in flocks, 
and when they have grazed they seek the most remote spot 
on the mountain and repose among the rocks. 

This sterile region is the wonder of all travelers. Lovers of 
geology and nature will some day come to visit it to observe 
its strange marvels. In their way, I will venture to say that 
the Bad Lands are the most remarkable place in the vast 
territory of the United States. Although uninhabitable to 
man, the buffalo range it in large bands, the bighorn in- 
habits it, and it is the resort of the bear and the rattlesnake, 
the antelope, the common and the black-tailed deer. In my 
description of the Missouri I have tried to give you a little 



852 A DISASTROUS BREAKUP. 

general idea of everything that is to be seen. The boat is 
two days crossing the Bad Lands region. The varied views 
that it presents Iceep one in continual admiration, and it is 
impossible to leave it without regret.^ 

The ice of spring has caused much damage in the forests 
lining the Missouri. They bear in many places the imprint 
of desolation. Last February there was a general thaw. 
The abundant snow that was then covering all the upper 
plains with its white shroud, melted suddenly under the 
burning rays of the sun and the spring breezes. All this 
new water, freed from restraint, hastened then by the thou- 
sands of torrents and tributaries of the Missouri, into the 
great reservoir of that immense region, which drains and 
fertilizes one of the vastest and most beautiful valleys of 
America. Last winter was a very severe one, and had 
frozen the Missouri so solidly throughout that buffalo herds 
and camps of Indians, with their numerous herds of horses, 
crossed it without the least danger, as if on an iron bridge. 
Up to the time of this sudden thaw the ice had lost none of 
its thickness nor strength. It was broken up into numerous 
cakes by the great influx of water, which raised the rivef 
and converted it into a torrent. The freed Missouri rolled 
its tumultuous waters with noise and uproar, and formed 
here and there gorges and barriers of ice-cakes, one to two 
leagues in length and twenty to forty feet high, in the nar- 
row places of the river. It overflowed in consequence, bear- 
ing its destroying icebergs, which in their furious course 
crushed all the smaller vegetation and uprooted the trees 
or stripped them of their bark, and changed these smiling 
valleys, with their thickets and forests, into arenas of deso- 
lation. They are now covered to a depth of one to three 
feet with sand and mud. 

7 This is not, strictly speaking, a "bad land" district; that is, it is 
not of the character to which that term is usually applied. It is a place 
where the river has cut its way through a system of rocks which are 
soft enough to be readily worn by the action of the elements. They 
present a wonderful display of strange, picturesque, and curious forms. 



HIGH AND LOW WATER. 853 

At the Muscleshell a convoy of twenty-five wagons and 
over 100 horses had halted and was encamped for the night. 
An avalanche of water and ice, leaving the bed of the river, 
spread over the bottoms with such rapidity and impetuosity 
that the whole train was swallowed up; all the animals 
perished; only the men succeeded in gaining in haste a 
neighboring hill, and were able to save themselves. At Fort 
Union and many other points, houses on the bank of the 
river were carried away or destroyed. The work of de- 
struction was already in progress before I left St, Louis. 
The breaking up of the ice destroyed a number of steam- 
boats. The losses are estimated at over $1,000,000. 

We left the port of St. Louis on the 9th of April last. 
From the outset the boat had to contend with the excessively 
high water, as I have mentioned in my letter, and with high 
west winds, which often made it impossible to proceed. The, 
Missouri was bankfull and beginning to overflow into the 
forests and lower valleys. Consequently our progress was 
much retarded. In many places all the power of the boat's 
two engines was exerted, without being able to make head 
against the impetuosity of the current. Then we had re- 
course to the slow but resistless capstan, which succeeded 
each time in surmounting the obstacles. Once only the 
great cable broke, and we were carried a great distance 
down stream, not without danger. 

" Violenta non durant." The river fell as rapidly as its 
brief rise had been swift. Then another kind of obstacles 
were presented, in the numerous sandbars of which the 
river is full, which change its channel frequently and which 
the ablest pilots cannot always avoid. Under the holy prov- 
idence of the Lord we have thus far escaped all the dangers 
of navigation. We have had only one serious alarm, a 
salutary warning of the fragility and uncertainty of all 
human works and the swiftness with which everything 
passes and disappears and the fairest hopes decay. Under 
a high head-wind and against an impetuous current, the 
boat became unmanageable, resisted the skill and the efforts 



854 RAPID PASSAGE DUE TO LAMPS. 

of our excellent pilot, veered about and, driving rapidly 
down stream, struck violently upon a great hidden rock. 
The shock was great and caused a heavy leak. For a few 
moments the salvation of the Ontario was despaired of ; she 
was filling rapidly. Several of the officers thought her lost 
and were for abandoning her, but others redoubled their 
efforts to repair the injury, and with the aid of all the pumps 
they kept her afloat, and she resumed her course. I have 
great confidence in the four lamps that burn night and day 
in the convents of St. Louis, before the statue of the Holy 
Virgin, our Good Mother, sfella nostra et refugiuin nostrum, 
a confidence further strengthened by the prayers offered in 
Europe and America for the success of my long and dan- 
gerous excursion. In the course of our trip to Benton 
(3,100 miles) [2,285], we have passed thirteen boats that 
had ten to fifteen days' start of ours; permit me the ex- 
pression, "A. M. D. G. ;" we have been borne as if on 
angels' wings to the boat's destination. Under the puissant 
protection of the Queen of Heaven, and full of confidence 
in divine Providence, we hope that my mission will end 
happily and favorably, and that I shall return, safe and 
sound, among my dear brothers in Jesus Christ. 

In the midst of this lonely wilderness, ranged over by 
numerous wandering tribes, made yet more barbarous and 
indomitable by the injustices and misdeeds of the whites; 
where ferocious animals and venomous reptiles, — the bear, 
the wolf and the serpent — resort and have their lairs ; and 
despite the more agreeable spectacle of the numerous herds 
of buffalo, elk, deer, antelope and bighorn, which change the 
aspect and animate the sad monotony of these primitive ver- 
dure-clad plains, and come from time to time to refresh the 
spirit and the mind of the Christian traveler and add to his 
admiration and gratitude, to the providence of the Lord, 
who is so mighty in gifts and benefactions to his poor 
creatures here below — the " Quam duke," etc.,® often re- 

8 How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in 
unity. 



PRECAUTIONS AGAINST HOSTILES. 855 

curs to my thoughts in this region, but unmingled with re- 
gret and without the sHghtest uneasiness. Guided by the 
holy obedience, we are, everywhere, in the Lord's hands. 

Upon entering the Sioux country, the Ontario was put in 
fighting trim. The pilot-house was planked over and made 
safe against bullets or arrows, the cannon was mounted in 
the bow, all the carbines, guns and pistols were inspected 
and loaded, and above all, sentinels were posted by night 
to keep guard against any surprise by the enemy. The 
preparations appeared formidable indeed. We saw once 
in a while war-parties of Indians, coming and going and 
keeping at a respectful distance from the boat, without the 
least hostile demonstration. All the way to Benton, I am 
glad to say, our fire-arms have served only to slay the timid 
animals of the desert, which were at once cut up for the 
kitchen and dinner table, always abundantly furnished 
throughout the voyage. 

The feast of the Glorious Ascension was in truth a day 
of consolation for me. I said mass early in the morning; 
my little congregation was present, and all devoutly ap- 
proached the holy table. Two hours later we were at Fort 
Sully. The arrival of a steamboat is always an event in such 
a locality, and on this occasion especially it made a good 
deal of commotion. The fort was surrounded by a neutral 
camp of Sioux, of some 200 lodges, and from the top of 
the great pole in the centre, dominating all the plain, the 
starry flag of the Union was proudly floating in the fresh 
breeze of this elevated region.® The day was most beauti- 
ful. I met at Fort Sully a large number of acquaintances — 
whites, half-breeds, Indians and negroes — and when we 
had shaken hands amicably, according to the usage of the 
country, and exchanged our little compliments and items of 
news, I accompanied the Indian chiefs to their camp. They 
were a mixture of various Sioux tribes — Yanktons, Yank- 
tonnais, Brules, Ogallalas, Two-kettles, Santees and Sioux- 

9 According to the observations of the scientist, Nicollet, Fort Sully 
has an elevation of 1,400 feet above the Gulf of Mexico. — Author's Note. 



856 INDIANS MORE SINNED AGAINST. 

Blackfeet. We had a long talk, in the course of which all 
their miseries, sufferings and griefs came to light. They 
had just emerged (May lOth) from a long and severe win- 
ter; the new grass was barely beginning to show, or the 
leaves of the willows and cottonwoods that fringe the river 
to develop. For several months the Indians had subsisted 
on the flesh of their lean dogs and horses, together with a 
pittance of wild roots. A great mortality, especially of 
children, had brought desolation and mourning to most of 
the families ; scarlet fever and other maladies were still con- 
tinuing their devastation. 

These Indians needed consolation — but good advice still 
more. In my quality of Black-robe I did my best to give 
them salutary counsels, as well as to console them. The 
grievances of the Indians against the whites are very nu- 
merous, and the vengeances which they on their side pro- 
voke are often most cruel and frightful. Nevertheless, one 
is compelled to admit that they are less guilty than the 
[whites. Nine times out of ten, the provocations come from 
the latter — that is to say, from the scum of civilization, 
who bring to them the lowest and grossest vices, and none 
of the virtues, of civilized men.^^ 

Upon this visit to the Sioux, I spent the fair feast of the 
Ascension and the following day in giving them instruction 
in the various principal points of religion. They behaved 
with the greatest propriety and gave close attention to my 
words. Before my departure they brought me with eager- 
ness 'their little children, to the number of over 200. I had 
the consolation and happiness of regenerating them in the 
holy waters of baptism. Having scarlet fever in their 
camp, I spoke to them of the necessity and urgency of bap- 
tism, and of the eternal happiness of the children who 
might fall victims to the disease. They gave evidence of 
most lively gratitude for this. 

i<^ For omitted portion of letter, see p. 1200. 



THE POOR INDIAN BABIES. 857 

For several years past the Yankton Sioux have been 
urgently asking for missionaries; and the Government 
agent, on the occasion of my visit, joined them in request- 
ing a Catholic mission, under the direction of the Fathers 
of the Company of Jesus, for them. The Yanktons are many 
and have sufficient resources to provide for the support of 
their children. It is to be hoped that the superiors will take 
this important matter under consideration ; the salvation of 
thousands of souls depends upon it. The Dakota or Sioux 
nation consists of a great number of tribes, forming together 
a population of 35,000 to 40,000 souls. 

The Sioux at Fort Rice received me in the most friendly 
manner. The boat only stopped for an instant, conse- 
quently my talk with them was but short. I meant to visit 
this post on my return from Benton. There are a large 
number of Canadian and Creole Catholics there, who re- 
ceive the visit of a priest once a year. 

At Forts Berthold and Sully sickness has carried off a 
majority of the children of tender years. Fortunately the 
greater part had received baptism at the time of my last 
visit. They rejoiced at my presence, and hastened to bring 
me all the newly born of the three tribes, the Grosventres, 
the Aricaras and the Mandans, begging me to grant them 
the holy sacrament of regeneration. During the rigors of 
last winter, the famine and misery were so great among 
them, that some fifty persons died of starvation. I will 
have more to say later of the situation of these unfortunate 
tribes. 

At Fort Union I baptized all the babies of the post and a 
great number of Assiniboin children, who were there just 
then. Here too the mortality had been equally great, but a 
large number had had the happiness of receiving baptism at 
the time of my last visit. 

On our way we saw several large camps of Crows and 
Blackfeet, amounting to some thousands, in various valleys, 
on both banks of the river. Despite their pressing invita- 
tions, the Ontario did not slacken speed. All their demon- 



858 ARRIVAL AT FORT BENTON. 

strations were peaceable and friendly, and all the passengers 
returned their brotherly salutations. 

Finally, on the 7th of June, after a voyage of fifty-seven 
days, I reached Benton, safe and sound, with all my belong- 
ings. I immediately made all arrangements for the trans- 
portation of the goods, to the different missions east of the 
Rocky Mountains. I have not had the consolation of meet- 
ing our Fathers of the Mission of St. Peter. A fresh and 
furious war has broken out between the whites and the 
Blackfeet, in which again the whites have given the first 
provocation, and our Fathers have been obliged to with- 
draw for the moment. In another letter I will give you 
some particulars of this war and some information as to the 
astonishing progress of the two Territories, Montana and 
Idaho. My visit to Benton has not been in vain. I have 
baptized seven adults and several children. 



CHAPTER V. 

EXPEDITION OF 1 867 TO THE HOSTILE SIOUX 

Another Government mission to the hostiles — Injustices of the 
whites — Reprisals of the Indians — Across Illinois and Iowa — Ar- 
rested by floods — Tribute to the Irish — To Sioux City under diffi- 
culties — Piety of a Yankton Indian — The shifty Missouri — Through 
wild Dakota on horseback — Many baptisms — Council with chiefs — 
Indian life a hard one — They ask justice — Hurricane and flood — 
Joins Government commissioners — Major De Smet — Work among 
soldiers — Various councils — Bitter complaints of the Indians — What 
can be done for them — Return to St. Louis in state of exhaustion. 

*lf ^ SHALLbe on the road within a week. The object is as 
" follows : The Secretary of the Interior requests me to 
accept the mission of envoy extraordinary to the hostile In- 
dian tribes, to endeavor to bring them back to peace and sub- 
mission and to prevent as much as possible the destruction of 
property and murder of the whites. There is a very for- 
midable coalition of Indian tribes which seems from recent 
information to be growing from day to day. Among the 
hostile tribes are the Cheyennes, Arapahos, Sans-arcs, Hunk- 
papas, Blackfeet, Bloods, Brules and a great many Sioux 
tribes. They are able to put a number of thousand war- 
riors on foot, and they make war on the whites wherever 
they can find them. 

As you see, I have a very large and difficult task, and all 
that encourages me is the prayers that accompany me. I 
have accepted the Government's commission, there being 
nothing contrary to my duties as a missionary, and with 
the distinct understanding that I shall not accept any re- 
muneration for my personal services. I prefer to be alto- 
gether independent in money matters and my only object is 

1 Extract from letter in French to his brother Francis, March 29, 
1867. 

[859] 



860 WAR FIERCER THAN EVER. 

to be of use to the whites and still more to the poor Indians. 
They are for the most part the victims of the misdeeds of 
the whites. I do not hesitate to say that the depredations 
of the Indians are in general the result of incessant provo- 
cations and injustice on the part of the whites. When the 
savages raise the hatchet or go on the war-path, it is be- 
cause they are pushed to the limit of endurance, and then the 
blows that they deal are hard, cruel and terrible. That is 
their nature. 



P have a little leisure here at Sioux City and I will make 
use of it to send you a few words. I shall also make an 
effort during my long and dangerous mission, to keep you 
informed from time to time in regard to what I see and 
what happens to me, whether good or bad, among the In- 
dian tribes of the plains whom I propose to visit, if they 
will let me. Will they receive me among them? While 
all hatchets are raised against the whites, while hundreds 
of scalps dangle and flutter in token of triumph from the 
tips of their lances and are used for decorations for the 
warriors and their ponies ? Eagle feathers are in great de>- 
mand among the Indians at present and their bonnets and 
their horses' manes and tails are covered with them — each 
plume denoting a scalp taken from the enemy. 

More than ever the fearful Sassakwi, the Indian war-cry, 
resounds throughout the great desert. The Government 
asks me to go thither in the capacity of envoy extraordinary. 
My superiors approve my nomination, and I am on the road 
to endeavor to accomplish my arduous mission, which is 
simply one of charity, in behalf of the whites and in the 
interest of the Indians themselves, who are threatened with 
total annihilation unless they can be brought back to sub- 
mission and peace. In time of war the most terrible and 
atrocious cruelties are practiced by the savages; all their 

2 To Terwecoren, April 30, 1867 ; from the French. 



ST. LOUIS TO CHICAGO. 86l 

passions are let loose and they abandon themselves wholly 
to the spirit of vengeance against the whites for all wrongs 
and injustices their race has suffered. It is always true that 
if the savages sin against the whites it is because the whites 
have greatly sinned against them. 

I enter into these sad details and reflections to give you a 
faint idea of my position and especially that I may gain a 
share in your pious remembrances, and in those of my dear 
and worthy brethren and acquaintances. The firm convic- 
tion that I am accompanied by many fervent prayers is a 
most sweet consolation to me and a great encouragement. 
Conscious of my own nothingness, I place myself confi- 
dently in the hands of the holy providence of the Lord and 
under the protection of our illustrious and good Mother, the 
Immaculate Virgin Mary. Pray that I may render myself 
worthy of these powerful aids and I shall have nothing to 
fear. " Si Dens pro nobis qttis contra nosf " 

I will begin by tracing the route that I have followed in 
coming from St. Louis to Sioux City. You can easily 
follow me on the map of America. On the 12th of April 
last at three o'clock in the afternoon, I left St. Louis for 
Chicago, the principal city of Illinois, 280 miles away. This 
city, which I have seen born, already contains upwards of 
200,000 inhabitants and is on the highway to prosperity. 
Our Fathers have built a fine large Gothic church there and 
established a school which contains nearly 1,600 pupils. 
Between St. Louis and Chicago there are fifty-three sta- 
tions, big and little, of which Alton and Springfield are the 
chief. The railroad passes through a succession of rich 
and beautiful prairies and plains, diversified here and there 
by vast forests and thousands of farms, with their innumer- 
able herds of cattle, sheep and horses. All this country is 
flat rather than rolling and the journey is made in fourteen 
to fifteen hours. 

I left Chicago at half-past eight in the morning on the 
13th by the Northwestern railroad for Omaha, capital of 
the State of Nebraska, at a distance of some 500 miles. 



862 STRANDED IN IOWA. 

The road crosses the State of Iowa from east to west. Some 
forty stations appear, some of which are considerable towns. 
The soil is generally very fertile and more rolling than that 
of the State of Illinois. 

On arriving at Boonesboro, 158 miles from our destina- 
tion, we learned that the sudden melting of the snows had 
swollen all the streams and transformed them into rushing 
torrents. All the bridges had been carried away and all 
the bottom-lands flooded for a width of one to three miles. 
Though in great haste to get ahead, there was nothing for 
me to do but to have patience and make a virtue of necessity. 

I found a good number of Irish Catholics at Boonesboro, 
who rejoiced in my misfortune in hopes of hearing mass 
the next day, which was Palm Sunday. They seldom re- 
ceive a visit from a priest — three or four times at most in 
the course of the year. They have built a little frame 
church, consisting simply of four walls and a roof. The 
interior has neither chairs nor benches nor an altar nor even 
a cross or image. A little platform was put up in haste for 
the offering of the holy sacrifice. In spite of the rain which 
came down in floods a large number assembled to attend 
mass and instruction, and several approached the holy table 
with much fervor and piety. 

I spent three days among these good Catholics. They 
showed me the greatest attention and overwhelmed me 
with kindness and charity. Wherever a priest has the 
good fortune to find a son of St. Patrick he is sure to find 
a sincere friend and benefactor ready to do for him what- 
ever he may need. Wherever in America ten Irish fam- 
ilies find themselves settled, no matter how great their pov- 
erty or distress, they erect a little temple to the Lord, in 
hopes that before long a priest will come to see them and 
settle among them. I will venture to say that three-fourths 
of the Catholic churches, orphan asylums and charitable 
institutions in the United States have been built by the 
zeal and gifts of the good Irish. The long and cruel per- 
secution of our holy religion in Ireland by la perUde Albion 



WASHOUTS AND FLOODS. 863 

has been, under the holy providence of the Lord, the surest 
and most efficacious means to render the Church more il- 
lustrious and to propagate it more rapidly in all the regions 
whither the zealous cohort of apostles and fervent disciples 
of St. Patrick have gone to escape English tyranny. I 
will add that of all European countries it is persecuted Ire- 
land, so oppressed and despised by her cruel tyrants and the 
enemies of religion, that furnishes America, Australia, the 
Indies and other places their most illustrious bishops and, 
most zealous apostles. To-day the whole world calls for 
them. 

On the 1 6th of April the railroad took us ninety miles 
farther to the little village of Denison. For the rest of the 
way to Omaha, sixty-eight miles, the railroad was for the 
present rendered impracticable by a continued series of 
washouts and other breaks caused by the flood. There was 
a single little tavern at Denison to which the greater part 
of the travelers went, though it could not properly accom- 
modate half its guests. All rules fail in dry weather, 
says the proverb, and in these circumstances the travelers 
were put away three and four in a bed. For my part, as 
a very special favor, I had the happiness of spending the 
night alone on a fine bag of straw in a little kind of den 
without even a window. 

On Good Friday, after being detained three days, the 
water having somewhat abated, five travelers joined me in 
hiring a wagon to take us to Sioux City, some hundred 
miles northwest of Denison. We got away late in the 
afternoon, and after making fifteen miles found shelter for 
the night at a solitary farm, six miles from the nearest 
neighbor. 

On Saturday we reached the crossing of the Little Sioux 
river after a ride of forty-two miles. We passed the night 
in a little tavern kept by an honest Bavarian Catholic, who 
had not had the happiness of assisting at mass in several 
years. Judge of his consolation when he learned that I 
was a priest, and that he and all his family would on the 



864 SCENERY IN IOWA. 

morrow have an occasion to discharge their Paschal duty, 
and that the holy sacrifice of the altar would be offered to 
their intention. He treated me with the utmost kindness 
and benevolence and showed great thankfulness for the 
spiritual benefactions received for the first time in his house 
on the great day of Easter. 

We crossed the Little Sioux in a small skiff or rather 
ferry. The bottoms were still flooded for a good mile in 
width. We rented another wagon to take us to Correc- 
tionville, which has yet but a single dwelling, that of a good 
old Irishman, his wife and six children. This place is 
twenty-two miles from the Little Sioux. We spent a good 
night here. The family was eager for instruction and all 
my conversation with them was upon various religious 
points. The father of the family already had in mind 
the erection of a church at Correctionville as soon as ten 
or so of his countrymen shall have settled there. 

April 22d, the Irishman brought us to Sioux City, twenty- 
seven miles, in his wagon. All the intervening distance 
consists of rolling elevated plains, with a fertile soil, rich 
in grasses, where innumerable herds of domestic animals 
would find ample pasturage. Deer and elk still range here 
in good numbers. All this region resembles an agitated 
sea, suddenly become motionless. Day after day, it is al- 
ways the same monotony. You go up and down an in- 
terminable succession of larger or smaller hills and valleys,- 
like terrestrial billows. A fringe of timber can be seen along 
the streams and in some deep valleys and ravines in the 
higher portions. 

In summer this region is an ocean of verdure, adorned 
with flowers, always agreeable to the eye. In autumn fires 
run over it and cover the whole surface with the sad black 
tint of mourning. Then comes winter and extends its 
shroud over all nature. At present winter is just drawing 
to a close in these parts. The snow is melting and disap- 
pearing rapidly. In severe seasons it lies two to four feet 
deep over all the country. Numerous drifts and patches 



EARLY SIOUX CITY. 865 

still appear, icy and sparkling here and there on the black- 
ened hillsides. 

After we left Denison, we passed two little towns in the 
first fifty miles; in the second half of the distance only a 
few small farms. The winter is rigorous in upper Iowa 
and will keep back colonization for some time to come. 
Dubuque, on the Mississippi, is the principal town of the 
State. There are four churches there with a bishop and 
Catholic charitable institutions. 

Reaching Sioux City I took up my lodging with the 
young curate of the place, Reverend J. Curtis. He prac- 
tices the holy ministry here with the greatest zeal and edi- 
fication. He enjoys the highest consideration among Prot- 
estants as well as Catholics. He is a pupil of the great 
Irish seminary All-Hallows, which every year sends its 
young, fervent apostles, filled with virtues and talents, to 
the various parts of the globe where the bishops may have 
called for their aid. In the twenty-five years that this sem- 
inary has been in existence, over 300 pupils have been sent 
out to foreign missions. 

Sioux City has a little Catholic congregation of about 
fifty families; the greater part are Irish, the rest Germans 
or French. Mr. Curtis' mission extends 130 miles north 
of the Missouri river, and he ministers to more than 200 
families scattered over this distance. The number grows 
each year. 

The good chief Pananniapapi, with a band of twenty- 
eight Yanktons, has just arrived in Sioux City. We are 
hourly expecting a steamboat which is to take us all together 
to his country. He is on his way home from Washington 
where he has been at the summons of the Secretary of the 
Interior to transact some business for his tribe. 

In my interview with him he told me with his natural sim- 
plicity that a young chief of his tribe and a near relative, 
who had gone east with him, had been attacked with a 
vomiting of blood during their stay in the capital, which 
soon brought him to great weakness, so that they lost all 
ss 



866 A CURE FOR HEMORRHAGES. 

hope of his recovery. In that extreme and afflicting situa- 
tion Pananniapapi had recourse to prayer and implored the 
aid of heaven. Then he drew near to the bed of the dying 
man, and being filled with faith, exhorted him to put all 
his confidence in the Great Spirit, and showing him the 
cross of the Savior, which he had about him, he offered it 
to the sick man's lips, saying " Dear nephew, embrace the 
crucifix with confidence. The image of Christ reminds us 
of the Son of God who descended from heaven and came 
upon earth to redeem us and deliver us from hell at the price 
of his own precious blood. Jesus Christ can do everything. 
He will give you health and bring you back safe and sound 
to the bosom of your family." He embraced the cross with 
a pious ardor and full of faith. The spitting of blood then 
ceased, and from that day his strength gradually returned 
to him. " I hope," said the good chief, " that the healing of 
my nephew will help to bring all my tribe to the knowledge, 
service and love of the Great Spirit. I am happy to meet 
you, Black-robe, and to learn that you are coming to visit 
once more the Yanktons and the other tribes of my nation 
(Sioux). We shall have all we can wish for, if you can 
stay among us." 

They tell me that the steamboat on which I am to em- 
bark, with Pananniapapi and his band, is in sight. I must 
make haste and pack up my little effects and close my trav- 
eling bag. The distance I have yet to go on the Missouri 
river is 260 miles. I propose to remain a few days in the 
territory of the Yanktons, and thence to penetrate into the 
interior of the country in search of the Sioux tribes. 



^As I announced in my letter from Sioux City, I embarked 
on the 30th of April [1867] upon the steamer Guidon. 
The boat was crowded with passengers and merchandise 
for the new Territories of Montana and Idaho. It was 

3 To Father Terwecoren. Written at the Yankton agency, May 15, 
1867. 



SANDBARS AND CUT-OFFS. 867 

No. 15 of the immense fleet of steamboats that were going 
this year to Benton, a distance of 3,160 miles. 

At the great melting of the snows which cover with their 
white shroud our vast plains and the Black Hills, the Mis- 
souri river and its numerous tributaries overflow, flooding 
all the alluvial bottom-lands. This spring rise never lasts 
long. When we embarked the river was already going 
down — the most critical and diflicult moment for naviga- 
tion. During high water all the different channels become 
filled with mud and sand and thus raise and level the bed 
of the river through all its width. As the water subsides 
new channels are formed little by little. At that time the 
great obstacles for steamboats, aside from the high winds 
of the West which prevail in the spring, are the numerous 
bars or sand-banks. Often hours or whole days are re- 
quired to cross one or two.* 

Above Sioux City we noticed a recent cut-off where the 
impetuous Missouri when bank-full had forced a passage 
through an immense forest of large cottonwoods a mile in 
extent and had scoured out a deep channel. It was only 
a matter of a few hours. This passage shortens the river 
fifteen miles. The Guidon was among the first to try it, 
always on the lookout for the threatening snags with which 
this new stretch of the river is studded. Without any other 
incidents than the bars, snags and winds, the boat took six 
days in going from Sioux City to the Yankton reservation, 
a distance of 260 miles. 

The head chief, Pananniapapi, and his traveling com- 
panions were received with open arms by their families and 
friends after three months of absence. I too shared, in 
my capacity of Black-robe, in their friendly demonstrations. 
They were all delighted to see us again in such good health. 

I took up my lodging in the house of the excellent inter- 
preter of the nation, Mr. Alexis Giou, who loaded me with 

* This observation upon the habits of the Missouri river is literally 
correct. The most experienced pilot could not have stated the case 
more exactly. 



868 THE ADVANCE OF SPRING. 

kindness and friendliness. He put me in possession of a 
nice little closet or attic, the only place available, where my 
altar, bed and all my things were straightway arranged, 
and in a few minutes I found myself in a real little dies moi, 
glad and happy to have escaped from the noise and tumult 
of the boat. 

I went to work the next day, while awaiting the arrival 
of the steamboat Bighorn, which had on board my provi- 
sions and necessary outfit, for my long journey across the 
plains. Every day I have had the consolation of saying 
mass, instructing the Indians and baptizing the little chil- 
dren that they brought me, the number of whom already 
amounts to 200. The Yanktons are scattered over their 
reservation for a distance of thirty miles. The spring rains 
and winds often render travel by land quite difficult. 

I learn that the Bighorn, which left St. Louis on the 
I2th of April, will be here to-morrow ; so I wait. The leaves 
of the cottonwoods along the river are coming out rapidly ; 
the grass on the plains is visibly shooting up and promises 
abundance for the wild animals and for travelers or beasts ; 
everything seems to call me to be going. 

I have given the chief Pananniapapi the beautiful inter- 
esting letter of Sister Louise Regiers, written at the request 
of the worthy Ladies of the Poor Churches. The chief 
asks me to thank those respectable ladies in his name for 
their great kindness toward him and especially for the good 
prayers that they offer to heaven in his behalf. He greatly 
admired the little images they sent him, which he distrib- 
uted among the different lodges or families of his tribe. 



Fort Buford, at the mouth of the Yellowstone, 2,240 
miles above St. Louis, July 8, 1867.^ 

I suppose my letters of April 30th and May 15th have 
reached you. In the first, I gave you my itinerary from 
5 From the French of the third Belgian edition, volume VI. 



FOUR-LEGGED HUMORISTS. 869 

St. Louis to Sioux City, and thence to the Yankton agency, 
near Fort Randall. At the agency, I had the consolation 
of regenerating in the holy waters of baptism more than 
200 little children and some adults. Several of them are 
already enjoying eternal bliss. Happy innocents! They 
seemed to be awaiting my arrival, to go and take their 
places in the celestial habitation, among the angels and 
saints of the Lord. 

The Yankton interpreter, Mr. Alexis Giou, gave me, dur- 
ing my sojourn among his tribe, a small apartment in his 
frame cottage. In this hospitable asylum I passed many 
happy moments ; especially, I had the happiness of offering 
there every day the holy sacrifice of the mass. The two 
Sundays that I was among the Yanktons, a chapel was im- 
provised, where Catholics and Protestants, whites, half- 
breeds and Indians, gathered to attend divine services. All 
showered attentions and regards upon me. 

May 17th. The steamboat Bighorn, thirty-three days out 
from St. Louis, arrived at the Yankton agency, and landed 
in good order my wagon, my little traveling necessities, 
my two mules and my saddle horse. These three animals, 
on coming ashore after so long an imprisonment, performed 
capers without end. The attractive perfume of the fresh 
grass caused them a delirium of joy; they threw them- 
selves down with all four feet in the air, rolled right and 
left on the sod, jumped and skipped, and carried on at such 
a rate that they were near playing the mischief with the 
spectators, assembled to admire their leaps and exploits. 
Still, these four-legged humorists did not forget the matter 
of refreshments; in a short time each was going around 
with a rounded paunch, looking like a bag of hay. 

The captain of the steamboat deserves thanks for the 
care he had taken of my animals. Despite his watchfulness, 
however, the horse on one occasion got loose from his 
halter and managed to get off the boat, while it was in mo- 
tion, and tranquilly went for a swim. His escape was not 
discovered for an hour afterward. At once the boat was 



870 THROUGH DARKEST DAKOTA. 

turned back down the river, in search of my courser, and 
he was found safe and sound at the foot of a bluff too steep 
for him to chmb ; otherwise he would have got to the woods 
and that would have been the last of him. The deckhands 
brought him on board again. 

Three days were required to bring our quadrupeds into 
tractable shape. One of the mules showed himself nothing 
less than bull-headed, and revolted whenever the bridle was 
passed over his long ears. After several attempts, all of 
them fruitless, the driver, to punish the balky animal and 
get a little respite himself, left him the bridle, but took away 
the bit; the mule appeared satisfied and the driver had no 
further need to resort to the whip to keep him quiet. 

May 2 1 St. I left the Yankton agency, together with the 
good chief Pananniapapi and his band. My little caravan 
was composed of a Sioux interpreter, a guide, a horse 
herder and a hunter. For seven miles, the route lay across 
an elevated country, through lovely smiling prairies, 
slightly rolling. Then we came down on the bottom-lands, 
the valley proper of the Missouri. There the Yankton chief 
called Iron Horn and his little band have some cultivated 
fields. I gave baptism to all the little children. Six miles 
farther on, at the Scnticr de hois a prone, [Prow-wood 
Landing?] I baptized several others. We had much diffi- 
culty in crossing the muddy stream opposite Fort Randall : 
all the baggage had to be carried to the farther bank on 
men's shoulders; all arms were required to help the two 
mules and the horse pull the empty wagon out of the sticky 
mud. Three miles farther, on the bank of the Missouri 
and on the land of the chief Magaska, or Swan, we camped 
for the night, at a distance of seventeen miles from our 
starting-point. 

May 22d. I regenerated in the holy waters of baptism a 
half-breed family, father, mother and seven children, who 
had prepared themselves several years before to obtain this 
favor. The parents received the sacrament of marriage, 
according to the Roman ritual. Seventy-four children of 



SOME SCATTERING INHABITANTS. 87 1 

Magaska's band also received baptism. All the morning 
was taken up in these holy ceremonies. We left the camp 
toward noon and regained the uplands. Several showers 
of rain made the road muddy and slippery. After traveling 
eight miles, we set up our tent on the bank of Louison 
creek, with a flowing current and clear as crystal. To the 
traveler fresh from the turbid water of the Missouri, the 
sight and contrast are very agreeable. 

At this place a solitary hostelry, consisting of two wooden 
shanties, had been erected and was inhabited by a Canadian, 
his half-breed wife and several of their children. All 
seemed happy to see me. Several other Canadians, who 
support themselves by cutting wood along the river to sell 
to steamboats, having been notified of my presence, had 
brought their children to meet me. All my hours, until late 
in the evening, were spent in instructions, for which these 
men seem hungry ; they pay earnest attention to them. Ten 
children were presented to me for baptism, and a half-breed 
woman received, with the holy waters of baptism, the nup- 
tial benediction. 

May 23d. About ten in the morning I left the banks of 
the Louison, resuming our march by green and rolling 
roads. A spring shower brought agreeable freshness to 
the atmosphere. After a stretch of nineteen miles, we set 
up our tent on the bank of Pratt creek, alongside the Ham- 
ilton hostelry. The proprietor of the latter was an old 
acquaintance of mine, so he showed me many kindnesses. 
He put all the products of his farm at my disposition; his 
henhouse furnished us the necessary eggs to make a pretty 
good dinner on the following day, which was a Friday. 
There was a gathering at Hamilton's, like that at his neigh- 
bor's on Louison creek ; they were waiting for me to confer 
baptism on two adults and thirteen little children. It was 
a goodly offering to make to God, on the eve of Our Lady 
the Auxiliatrice and the feast-day of the martyr of the 
Society of Jesus, the blessed Andrew Bobola. 

May 24th. I offered the holy sacrifice of the mass early in 



872 LAKES AND PRAIRIE-DOGS. 

the morning. After doing honor to our host's eggs, we 
resumed our march to make twenty-two miles. The road 
crosses immense and beautiful plateaus, which present in- 
numerable parterres, where, at this agreeable season of the 
year, the lovely little daisy abounds ; it is really the queen of 
this country. It appears in all its splendor, in the most vivid 
and most varied colors ; it ranges from snow white to purple, 
red, blue and the deepest yellow. 

We came to Bijou toward three in the afternoon, and 
camped near a clear cold spring. These very high hills 
serve as landmarks in these parts; they can be seen for 
thirty miles away. Everywhere in these elevated plains you 
come upon numerous natural basins or reservoirs, which 
really deserve to be called lakes, being three to six miles 
in extent. They fill up every spring, at the time of the 
melting of the snow and during the rainy seasons. Ducks, 
wild geese, snipe and other aquatic birds abound ; they make 
their nests in the reeds and tall grass. 

We passed by several large prairie-dog villages. Their 
inhabitants live underground and seem to live in harmony 
with the owl, the prairie hawk and the rattlesnake. At the 
approach of the hunter, they are sometimes seen to enter 
the same hole all together. Formerly, these fair plains sup- 
ported numerous herds of buffalo, elk and deer ; to-day, since 
the military road has crossed them, the large animals have 
disappeared. We saw in the distance a few antelope, and 
along the road a great number of snipe, prairie-chickens, 
wild pigeons and a variety of small birds. 

The Sioux chief of the Briile tribe, Katanka-Wakan, or 
Ghost Bull, joined us on the road, and we camped together 
at the foot of the hills at Bijou. Here a Canadian pioneer 
has built his cabin. I baptized his five little children. 

May 25th. The night was cold ; water froze in my tent. 
We left the hills at Bijou at six in the morning and re- 
sumed our journey. We crossed another series of plateaus, 
parterres of variegated flowers and slightly rolling prairies, 
where ponds of water are frequent. These usually evapo- 



THOUGHTFULNESS OF OFFICERS. 873 

rate during the great heats of summer. Toward noon, we 
halted on the shore of Red lake. We had snipe and wild 
pigeons for dinner. We met a solitary family of the Brule 
tribe. I conferred baptism on five of their children. All 
along the road, we noticed a great many birds of different 
species. Our tent was set up on the banks of American 
creek. 

May 26th. I celebrated the holy sacrifice of the mass early 
in the morning, having thirty miles to cover. We started 
betimes ; the surface of the country was the same as on the 
two previous days. As we rode, and without leaving the 
trail, a hunter killed fifteen pigeons and several snipe. We 
crossed four small streams, the Crow, Prickly Ash, Elm 
and Box Elder, and arrived at Fort Thompson about seven 
in the evening. There we set up our tent, at a short distance 
from the Missouri. I made my call on the officers of the 
fort, and we spent a very agreeable evening. The officers 
of the American army are, in general, gentlemen in the full 
force of the word. They showed me the utmost cordiality 
and provided for all my wants. 

May 27th. I found upward of 120 lodges of Indians in the 
vicinity of Fort Thompson, belonging principally to the 
tribes of Brules, Two Kettles and Yanktonnais. The ob- 
ject of my mission from the Governm.ent had already been 
announced to them; they received me with affability and 
confidence. I convoked the principal chiefs and the braves 
in council. As the names they bore may interest you, by 
reason of their singularity, I will give a few of them; be- 
sides, they are my spiritual children and my friends : I take 
pleasure in making you acquainted with them. They are 
Mazoeate, or Iron Nation ; Istamanza, or Iron Eyes ; Tawa- 
goekeza-numpa, or Two Lances ; Tclietauska, or White 
Hawk ; Mantowa-koua, or Hunting Bear ; Gougounapia, or 
Knuckle-bone Collar, and Mantatska, or White Bear. 
Thirty-six chiefs and braves attended the council. I opened 
the session with a solemn prayer to the Great Spirit, to 
implore his assistance upon all the members present and 



8/4 ABOUT GOVERNMENT PROMISES. 

each of the tribes represented by them. They kept their 
hands raised toward heaven throughout this invocation. 
Then I laid before them at some length the object of my 
mission, the desires and wishes of the Government in regard 
to them. I endeavored to strengthen them in their good 
dispositions, to keep them apart from the hostile bands, for 
their own security and that of their families, and to bring 
them to conclude a permanent peace. In their speeches in 
reply, the chiefs made solemn promises to listen to the advice 
of the Great Father, the President of the United States, 
and to keep peace with the whites. They laid before me, 
quite simply, their delicate and critical position. On the 
one hand, they alleged their nearness to and relations with 
the fighting bands, who are their own blood and kin; and 
the invitations of the latter to take up the hatchet against 
the whites in defense of the land of their birth ; invitations 
always accompanied with insults and menaces. On the 
other hand — I will quote their own words : " Commis- 
sioners and agents of the Government come to us every 
year ; they are affable and prodigal of speeches and promises 
in behalf of our Great Father. What is the reason that so 
many fine words and pompous promises always come to 
nothing, nothing, nothing?" Then they entered into a 
series of details concerning the injustices and misdeeds of 
the whites, and closed by saying : " We continue to hope 
that our words will reach the ear of our Great Father, that 
they will enter his heart and that he will take pity on us. 
The presence of the Black-robe to-day increases our hope 
and our confidence." 

The council lasted several hours, with every indication of 
a good and fortunate outcome. My religious instruction, 
which followed the great council, was most attentively lis- 
tened to. As I spoke of the importance of the sacrament 
of regeneration, the several chiefs at once harangued their 
camps, and the mothers made haste to present me their little 
children, to the number of more than i6o, " to dedicate them 
to the Great Spirit " by baptism. 



WORK AMONG THE SOLDIERS. 8/5 

The Indian life is a hard one; the climate here is very 
severe. A great number of children succumb before the age 
of reason, unable to resist the fatigues, privations and 
maladies which we understand, but for which they have no 
remedies. 

It is a real feast day to baptize these poor little innocents : 
baptism will have opened heaven to a great number whom 
I have had the good fortune to meet in my long excursions. 
I am firm in the conviction that they are interceding with 
God for me. 

The council and baptismal ceremonies lasted until far 
into the evening. It was a lovely day. I return thanks to 
heaven and to the Blessed Virgin Mary for all favors re- 
ceived. 

May 28th. I said mass late in the morning and gave an 
instruction at Fort Thompson. The garrison is principally 
composed of Irish, Germans and French, all Catholics. It 
was the first visit they had received from a priest. Accord- 
ingly a good number made haste to profit by my presence 
to approach the sacraments. I spent part of the day with 
them, and employed the remainder in conferences with the 
Indians, which was the main object of my mission. 

May 29th. Early in the morning I became aware that one 
mule and my horse had strayed away during the night. I 
was not altogether easy about them : it was quite possible 
that the hostile Indians, who often roam this region, es- 
pecially in the dark, had carried them off. I had recourse 
to the good Saint Anthony, and to my great joy, the two 
fugitives were brought back to me a short time after my 
prayer. Breakfast was ready. By seven o'clock we were 
on the road. The country that we crossed offered the same 
aspect ; various species of flowers continued abundant, while 
the singing and warbling of numerous birds enlivened to 
some extent those sad desert plains. We dined on the bank 
of the little creek called Chain of Rocks : pigeons, snipe and 
ducks came and offered themselves to our hunter and 
formed our meal. A curiosity remarkable enough to de- 



876 SOME ILLUSTRIOUS NAMES. 

serve mention is seen at the Chain of Rocks, near the 
Stream: it consists of five deep and perfect impressions of 
a human foot. This place is renowned in the Indian leg- 
ends; some time I will try to give you the whole story. 
Toward sunset, we camped on Chapelle creek, near three 
Indian lodges. I found among them old and good acquaint- 
ances; they loaded me with friendliness and eagerly pre- 
sented me nine of their babies for baptism. 

May 30th. The glorious day of the Ascension : I offered 
holy mass for the conversion of the Indian tribes. On leav- 
ing, at seven in the morning, the wagon got mired in the 
deep mud of Chapelle creek. As at the muddy stream near 
Fort Randall, we had to unload and carry everything over 
on our shoulders. We succeeded with difficulty and by 
main force in disengaging our vehicle from its embarrassed 
situation, and took up our march anew for twenty-five miles. 
We traversed a mountainous region, full of boulders, for 
the most part rounded by water. While we were dining 
at Medicine creek, several Sioux families who were on their 
travels crossed the stream and took advantage of my pres- 
ence to obtain, in favor of eight of their children, the bene- 
fits of baptism. The road passes within sight of the Mis- 
souri and enters the river bottoms. We camped at old Fort 
Sully, now abandoned ; about five in the afternoon, I found 
myself among 220 lodges of Indians, who received me with 
every demonstration of the warmest cordiality. 

May 31st. As at Fort Thompson, I convoked the chiefs 
and braves in a grand council. Allow me to give you a sec- 
ond list of our Nestors of the plains. Their names, as in 
ancient times, are characteristic and significant ; they have 
reference to some remarkable action of their lives. For the 
most part, they are names illustrious among the tribes of the 
Great Desert. They are as follows : Nagi-wakan, or Chief 
Ghost ; Tchetangi, or Yellow Hawk ; Zizikadaniakan, or 
Man Who Soars Above the Bird; Tokayakete, or Killed 
the First One; Matowayouwi, or Dispersed the Bears; 
Tokaoyouthpa, or Took the Enemy; Wawantaneanska, or 



BAD FAITH OF THE WHITES. 877 

Big Mandan; Wagha-tshawkaeyapi, or Serves as a Shield; 
Tchatepeta, or Iron Heart; Ezzani-maza, or Iron Horn; 
Wamedoupiloupa, or Red Tail Eagle, and a great number of 
others. 

At the first summons they made haste to the council. I 
presented to the principal chiefs a miraculous medal of the 
Holy Virgin, which they received with eagerness and most 
sincere gratitude. They recalled the favors received from 
heaven at the time of the cholera, and accorded to the chief 
Pananniapapi and his band through the intercession of 
Mary. 

As soon as they comprehended the object of my visit, they 
paid the closest attention to my words. They complained 
bitterly of the bad faith of the whites, of the commissioners 
and agents of the Government, always so prodigal of prom- 
ises and always so slow in fulfilling them, if they ever do so. 
This conduct sticks in their minds; they propose to wait a 
while longer and see. In their speeches and in private con- 
versation they declared themselves favorable to peace with 
the whites and ready to call on their young warriors to bury 
the hatchet and withdraw from the fighting bands. They 
expressed also a lively desire to settle on reservations and 
cultivate the soil. But until such time as their fields pro- 
duce abundance, they choose to continue to lead the noma- 
dic life and to range the plains peaceably in search of ani- 
mals, roots and fruits. 

This far, all that I have observed and been able to learn 
among the different bands of Indians makes me augur 
favorably of their good dispositions to live at peace with the 
whites, and to make efforts to withhold their young men 
from committing depredations. They ask, and have a right 
to demand, to have justice done them; that the annuities 
granted them by treaty should come to them ; that the prac- 
tice of putting them off with fine words should cease once 
for all ; that they be protected against the whites who come 
to sow iniquity and misery in their country; and in con- 
clusion they humbly beg their Great Father the President 



878 , TRIBES UNDER MARTIAL LAW. 

to grant them agricultural implements, seeds, plows and 
oxen to till the soil. I repeat it, if our Indians become en- 
raged against the whites, it is because the whites have made 
them suffer for a long time. 

At the close of the grand council the mothers, with their 
babies to the number of 174, were waiting for me for 
baptism. 

I have sent several expresses into the interior of the 
country to announce to the hostile bands my intention of 
visiting them. I expect their reply within the next two 
months. I venture to hope for some result ; I offer my poor 
prayers to the Lord for the good success of my pacific mis- 
sion, upon which depend my future movements. Mean- 
while, I shall continue my visits among the redskins, in the 
region of Forts Rice, Berthold and Union. My messengers 
are to wait for me at Fort Sully. To go and come from 
Sully to Union and return, the distance is 1,430 miles. 

June I St, Heavy rain all night, thick fog and cold 
weather. Toward noon the sun came through and soon it 
was stifling hot. 

I spent the whole day with the principal chiefs in conver- 
sation concerning religion and the present critical and dan- 
gerous situation of the plains tribes, toward the American 
Government. After the example of the whites, the Indians 
have proclaimed a sort of martial law; the war chiefs have 
assumed sole command. 

To-day I conferred baptism on thirty-three young chil- 
dren of the Briile band. 

June 2d, 3d, 4th and 5th. These four days were princi- 
pally employed in conferences with the Indians. The heat is 
very great. The coming and going is without end. Little 
Soldier, second chief of the Yanktonnais, has joined the 
camp ; his tribe reckons more than 400 lodges or tepees. He 
listened attentively to the religious instructions that I gave 
him and to the messages with which I was intrusted by the 
Government. Little Soldier in his turn talked to me about 
the friendly disposition of his tribe toward the whites, who 



GOVERNMENT SEEKING INFORMATION. 879 

at this moment were awaiting us in the vicinity of Fort 
Rice. 

During these four days, I administered baptism to thirty- 
nine Indian babies. 

In the evening of the 5th a terrible hurricane, accom- 
panied by continuous Hghtnings, turning night into day, 
and a roll of heavy thunder like the discharge of a thou- 
sand cannon, burst over our camp. One would have thought 
the last day was at hand. On this occasion, two lovely 
verses in Flemish presented themselves to my memory: 

De velden dreunden door een dorren donderslag, 
Nooit zag de wereld een vervaerlyker dag. — 

The fields rang with a heavy thunderclap; 
The world never saw a more fearful day. 

The hurricane lasted several hours. A large number of 
tepees were blown down. Wagons were taken off in haste 
by the wind. The violence of the gusts came near carry- 
ing away my tent; it took three strong men to hold it up- 
right. The play ended with a deluge of rain and hail, 
which flooded all the country. 

June 6th and 7th. Baptism of two children. Arrival 
of Generals Sully and Parker, envoys extraordinary of the 
Government to take special information in regard to the 
complaints of the Indians against the whites, and the in- 
justices of which they have continually been victims. They 
are both distinguished generals of the American army, 
equally noted for their bravery and their probity. We had 
a long conversation concerning the objects of our respective 
missions, and it is resolved that I shall accompany them as 
far as beyond the Yellowstone. We will unite our efforts 
to bring the tribes back to peace. 

June 8th. Baptism of two small children. A grand coun- 
cil was called by the two generals. All the chiefs and 
braves attended. At the request of the American officers, 
I made a little preliminary address to the Indians, to draw 



88o THE DEMANDS OF THE SIOUX. 

their attention and inspire confidence. I told them that 
their Great Father, the President, desired to know all their 
griefs, in order to apply, once for all, the proper remedy. 
Then the two generals spoke, and gave particulars concern- 
ing their mission to the Indians ; they promised that all 
the speeches made in the council should be faithfully trans- 
mitted to Washington and submitted to the President. 
Each chief, in the name of his band, showed all his mind. 
The council closed in the most perfect harmony, with a 
great feast, which all attended, big and little, old and young, 
and brought excellent appetites with them. I will give you 
hereafter some of the speeches that were improvised by the 
chiefs ; they are models of good sense and eloquence. 

June 9th, Sunday. A large number of Indians attended 
the divine service and instruction. The meeting was com- 
posed of whites, half-breeds and Indians of various bands. 
Two marriages were celebrated. The divine service was 
hardly ended when the head war-chief, Mazakampeska or 
Iron Shell, with several of his braves, presented himself 
in the camp and paid us his call. A council was held at 
once. Iron Shell, after preambles too long to be reported 
here, declared " that he desired tranquillity and peace for 
his country; but to establish it, three conditions appeared 
to him absolutely necessary. First, he said, send all your 
soldiers out of the country; close all your public roads 
through the Black Hills ; and prevent steamboats from com- 
ing up the Upper Missouri, so that the buffalo and other 
animals may not be disturbed." This was the conditio 
sine qua non of Mazakampeska. 

General Sully made known to him " that the soldiers had 
been brought into the country by the massacres that had 
taken place in Minnesota and on the plains of the Missouri ; 
that if these murders and massacres continued, the number 
of soldiers would be increased, until they would cover the 
country as the grasshoppers cover their fields. Bury the 
hatchet," added the general, " and the soldiers will return 
whence they came." He said further that he had come 



MISSION ON BOARD SHIP. 88l 

to hear the complaints of the Indians and make a faithful 
report of them to the Great Father. The chief answered 
and promised to make use of his influence to bring the 
young men to peace. 

Toward three in the afternoon, we started for the new 
Fort Sully by a fine road. We made twenty-five miles in 
three hours. The steamboat Graham was there with five 
companies of soldiers destined for the different forts. Our 
arrangements were quickly made; we left at the fort our 
vehicles, animals and baggage, and took our places on the 
boat. 

June loth. The steamboat made an early start, but 
advanced scarcely twenty miles in the day. All the time 
was consumed in cutting and taking on wood to supply the 
furnaces. They are so greedy that they devour each day 
twenty-five cords of this combustible. The Graham is 249 
feet in length. It is a floating palace, and the largest boat 
that has ever come up the Upper Missouri. 

My quality of envoy extraordinary of the Government 
carries with it the title of Major, strangely mated, it must 
be owned, with that of Jesuit. Still, it must be said in its 
behalf that it gives me readier access among the soldiers, 
a great many of whom are Catholics. I gave them, not 
as a major but as a priest, all my spare moments. Sunday, 
I said mass in public, in the spacious ladies' cabin ; and every 
day I offered the holy sacrifice in my private stateroom, with 
the consolation of being able to distribute holy communion 
to several. I found myself conducting a small mission on 
board : my days were passed in doing the catechism, and 
instructing and confessing the soldiers, who hastened to 
come before me. As we went along, I baptized a lady and 
her children. 

June 1 6th. We arrived at Fort Rice, 260 miles distant 
from Fort Sully. Head-winds and the necessity of cutting 
wood had delayed us greatly. At Rice, on both sides of 
the river, were about 530 lodges encamped and waiting for 
our coming. All the tribe of the Yanktonnais, 380 lodges, 
56 



882 COUNCILS WITH VARIOUS CHIEFS. 

were here together. The other camps were portions of 
other bands: Hunkpapas, Blackfoot-Sioux and others. 

June 17th and i8th. These days were spent in confer- 
ences and councils, in which all the chiefs and the principal 
braves took part. I will give you another time the par- 
ticulars of these various gatherings. I made the opening 
speeches, at the request of Generals Sully and Parker, who 
made known to the chiefs the intentions of the Government 
toward them. The chiefs spoke admirably in answer, being 
both wise and eloquent, and showed a disposition to main- 
tain peace with the whites. Our relations with the Indians 
promise well for success, and our sessions lasted until late in 
the evening. The camps being at some distance from the 
fort and on the other side of the river, I only had oppor- 
tunity and time to baptize fifteen of their babies. I was 
taken to one poor little thing that was in its agony, and 
died a few instants after receiving baptism. 

I hope to meet camps of the same tribes upon my return 
from Fort Union, and to speak to them more especially of 
religion, of which they seem very hungry to hear. 

June 19th. We left Fort Rice early in the morning. The 
distance to Fort Berthold is 175 miles. We arrived there 
without the slightest incident. 

June 23d. On the way, four antelope were killed by the 
hunters. My time on the boat was employed in hearing 
the confessions of the Catholic soldiers and preparing them 
to approach the sacraments. A native of Brussels, named 
Charles Smet, was among the number ; it was a great con- 
solation to both of us to be able to speak our mother lan- 
guage. He had lost none of his accent. An Irish couple, 
the servant of the general and a sergeant, profited by my 
presence to receive the nuptial benediction. 

We spent some hours at Berthold in council with the 
chief of the three combined tribes, the Aricaras, Mandans 
and Minnetarees of Grosventres. They have always re- 
mained faithful to the Government, A final council will 



MEANS TO VISIT THE HOSTILES. 883 

be held on our return from Fort Berthold. I will tell you 
of this later. 

June 24th. The steamboat pursues its course. We saw 
the first herd of buffalo. A large number of passengers 
leaped ashore to go in pursuit of the animals. A single 
buffalo was killed. One of the hunters, still green in this 
kind of hunting, got lost; and in spite of all searches and 
firing of cannon, could not be found. 

June 28th. We reached Buford, near old Fort Union, at 
the mouth of the Yellowstone. This place is situated 255 
miles from Fort Berthold and 2,240 from St. Louis. Fort 
Buford contains five companies of soldiers. I am dividing 
my time between writing and making myself useful to the 
soldiers and to the thirty lodges of Assiniboins. I have 
baptized a soldier and forty-seven Indian children, and 
given the nuptial benediction to three couples. 

July 7th. Arrival of the Assiniboin chiefs and grand 
council. All declare themselves friendly to the whites and 
promise not to yield to the solicitations of the hostiles. We 
are waiting for the arrival of the Crow and Santee chiefs, 
to announce and explain to them the wishes of the Govern- 
ment. After that, I shall go down the river to Fort Rice or 
Fort Sully, and set out into the interior to visit the hostile 
bands, if the thing is practicable. The number of baptisms 
up to date is 857. 

Pray for me and present my respects to all the brethren. 



University of St. Louis, September, 1867.® 

At the Yankton agency, near Fort Randall, (1,285 miles 
from St. Louis) I met the camp of the Yanktons (a Sioux 
tribe) who are about 2,500 in number. They are at peace 
with the whites, practice agriculture successfully and are 
cultivating with care some 1,200 acres. The chiefs, with 

6 Extracts from letter in French to Charles De Coster, Belgium, 
September, 1867. 



884 INDIANS AT THE FORTS. 

Pananniapapi at their head, begged me to grant them a 
mission and estabhsh schools in the tribe. The head chief, 
a good many adults and all the children of this tribe have 
been baptized. 

At Fort Thompson (1,441 miles) I found upward of 100 
Indian lodges (each lodge containing eight to ten inmates) 
belonging to the tribes of the Brijles, Yanktonnais and Two 
Kettles. I had several conferences with them relative to 
their present situation toward the Government, and espe- 
cially in regard to religion, to all of which they gave the 
closest attention. 

At old Fort Pierre or Sully (1,525 miles) 200 lodges 
were set up in a beautifully elevated plain. This was a 
mixed camp of various tribes — Blackfoot-Sioux, Two 
Kettles, Briiles, Yanktonnais, Yanktons, Sans-arcs, Minne- 
conjous and Ogallalas. I spent a good fortnight among 
them in counseling with the chiefs and instructing the 
people, and during all my stay among them they treated me 
with the utmost benevolence, affability and attention. I 
was surrounded from morning to night. 

In the region round Fort Rice (1,810 miles) over 500 
lodges, something like 5,000 souls, were awaiting our ar- 
rival. The camp was composed of the greater portion of 
the Yanktonnais (380 lodges) with bands of the Cut Heads, 
Hunkpapas and Blackfeet-Sioux. They evinced much 
friendliness for us. At the first appeal, all the chiefs met in 
council and promised solemnly to maintain peace with the 
whites, to hold aloof from the hostile tribes and to prevent 
their young men from going on the war-path. I presented 
each of the chiefs with a large miraculous medal, which 
they received with the liveliest gratitude, promising to wear 
them as souvenirs of fidelity to their promises. I spent my 
time very agreeably among them, instructing the Indians 
and baptizing their children. 

At Fort Berthold (1,985 miles) I met my old friends the 
Aricaras, Mandans and Grosventres or Minnetarees, who 
form one large village nearly two miles in circumference. 



INDIANS COMPLAIN BITTERLY. 885 

There are some 3,000 of them; they Hve in permanent 
earthen houses. All their children are baptized; they are 
at peace with the whites; they cultivate a large field (1,200 
acres), raising corn, potatoes, melons, and beans, with no 
tools but sharpened sticks, with a few spades and mattocks. 
They complained bitterly of the Government agents and the 
soldiers. They first deceive them and rob them in the dis- 
tribution of their annuities, and the others demoralize them 
by their scandalous conduct. All last winter they were 
the playthings and slaves of a hard and tyrannical captain, 
who seemed to make it his business to torment the poor 
wretches. When the old women with their starving babies 
came up to the fort to pick up the filthy refuse thrown out 
of the soldier's kitchen, they were pitilessly driven ofif with 
scalding water, thrown upon their emaciated bodies, cov- 
ered only with rags in the severest of the cold weather. 
The head chief of the Aricaras, named White Parfleche, in 
his speech to Generals Sully and Parker, drew a vivid pic- 
ture of the miseries of his tribe. Their crop having failed, 
they were reduced to famine and all assistance was refused 
them by the captain of the fort. " Reduced to the last ex- 
tremity," he said, " I implored the Great Spirit in the name" 
of the children baptized by the Black-robe. My prayer was 
granted. The excessively cold weather moderated, and 
before the sun set we killed several buffalo alongside our 
camp-fires. Yes, the Great Spirit loves his little children." 

At Fort Buford, at the mouth of the Yellowstone (2,240 
miles), a good number of chiefs and braves belonging to 
the various bands of the Assiniboins made their peaceable- 
ness and fidelity to the President evident to the Commis- 
sioners. At all the military posts on the Missouri river a 
good share of the soldiers are Catholics, and my ministra- 
tions were called for everywhere. A general of the army 
and several officers set the good example of approaching 
the holy table. 

In all the public speeches of the chiefs and in all the 
private talks I had with them, they all showed a friendly 



886 HOW PEACE MAY BE SECURED. 

disposition toward the whites and a strong determination to 
keep aloof from the hostile bands. We kept a strict list of 
all the complaints made by the Indians, which has been 
transmitted to the Department of the Interior. I am firmly 
convinced that if the just claims of the Indians are attended 
to; if their annuities are paid them at the proper time and 
place; if the agents and other employees of the Government 
treat them with honesty and justice; if they are supplied 
with the necessary tools for carpentry and agriculture, the 
Indian tribes of the Upper Missouri, of whom I have spoken 
above, would maintain peace with the whites ; and the war- 
like bands who to-day infest the plains of the Far West 
and the valley of the Platte, where there is so much destruc- 
tion of property and loss of life, would promptly cease their 
depredations and would not be long in joining the stay-at- 
home tribes. " If the savages sin against the whites, it is 
because the whites have greatly sinned against them." 

There is much talk just at present of placing all the 
Indian tribes on one or two large reservations. It is not 
possible to change the nature of any race of men in a 
moment. The Indians told us " that they were born to be 
hunters and to range the country in pursuit of animals." 
It will take patience to transform them into cultivators ; the 
thing will necessarily require some years. The Indians 
whom we visited were disposed to choose reservations, suit- 
able for agriculture, on their own lands. In every band a 
good number of families showed a favorable disposition 
to go to work without delay and urged us to have them 
furnished with plows and oxen. If they succeed for the 
first three years in their noble efforts, the example of that 
industrious portion would soon be followed by the mass in 
every tribe : and if once the great advantages of agriculture, 
of raising domestic animals and poultry, were understood, 
especially after once living in abundance as the result of 
their own labor, they could afterward easily be led to one or 
two large reservations like those of the Delawares, Chero- 
kees and Choctaws. 



INVITATIONS TO CHIEFS. 887 

While I was among these river tribes, I sent several 
Indians as deputies among the hostile tribes. I stocked 
them with packages of smoking tobacco, to distribute 
among the chiefs. Each package served as a letter of in- 
troduction, to invite them to come and talk over their posi- 
tion. Upward of loo chiefs and warriors came at my 
request to Fort Rice, in the hope of finding me there with 
the Commissioners, Generals Parker and Sully. They 
waited there for us for ten days, and only went away when 
the lack of provisions forced them to do so. They therefore 
set off on their two-months' buffalo hunt to provide for 
their families. At leaving they sent word to me especially 
by two interpreters that they greatly desired, to see the 
Black-robe and talk with him. I was assured that they all 
seemed favorably inclined toward peace. I hope that my 
health may permit me to go among them early next spring, 

I have just this instant received a letter from the Secre- 
tary of the Interior, dated the 24th of this month, in which 
he gives the following testimonial, which it gives me pleas- 
ure to communicate to you : " You will please accept my 
thanks for the faithful and efficient manner in which you 
have discharged the duties intrusted to your care." 



August 30, 1867.'^ 

Here I am again at my post in St. Louis after an absence 
of four months and some days : Upon my arrival here the 
thermometer was in the neighborhood of 100°, and com- 
ing from 48° North I found myself singularly exhausted 
and feverish. I had been unanimously admitted at Leaven- 
worth among the Peace Commissioners recently sent out by 
the Government among the Indian tribes of the Far West. 
I had accepted my nomination but was obliged to return to 
St. Louis, having sent thither my trunk, bed and all m.y 

'' Extract from letter in French to Reverend Father Cosemans, 
Belgium, August 30, 1867. 



888 PLANS FOR FURTHER WORK. 

traveling necessaries. Then this sickness coming upon me, 
I had to give up this second mission by the doctor's orders. 

My four months among the Indians have had a happy 
and consohng result, with the grace of the Lord, and the 
intercession of our good Mother Mary, aided by so many 
prayers of my dear brethren and acquaintances and those 
of our little children in our schools. The baptisms of chil- 
dren amount to nearly 900, and forty-six adults. * * * 
I visited a great number of Sioux tribes or parts of tribes, 
coming altogether to some 15,000 Indians, and everywhere 
I was received with the greatest kindness and eagerness. 
They gave diligent attention to all my religious instruc- 
tions, and listened favorably to the words that I brought 
them from the Government. They promised to hold aloof 
from the hostile bands and not to yield to their invitations. 
A good many even of the hostiles came to see me and I 
believe a general peace could be brought about, if honest 
agents were employed to treat with them. * * * 

I had a long interview with the Commissioners which 
has been published by their orders. 



St. Louis University, September 17, 1867. 
Dear Mr. Galpin: 

I received, yesterday, your kind favor of the 24th ultimo, 
and rejoiced to hear from you. I trust you will favor me 
frequently with news from above; particularly concerning 
the hostile bands in the plains. I will give you here a short 
statement of my situation and of the impossibility I am in of 
returning to the upper country in the course of this fall. 

I left you with an intention to return to Fort Rice and 
await the arrival of the Indians (during one or two 
months). At my arrival at Sully, I found my wagon and 
animals in an unfit condition to stand a long trip and de- 
termined on proceeding with Generals Sully and Parker. 



MEETING WITH PEACE COMMISSION. 889 

At Leavenworth I met the new Commissioners and held a 
long conference with them. I accepted of their invitation 
to accompany them on their visit among the Missouri tribes. 
I left immediately for St. Louis, where my traveling effects 
had preceded me. At my arrival home, such was the heat 
(100°), that I became sick and have since been incapable 
of moving about. Let the Indians know, particularly the 
hostile bands, that I am very desirous to see them, in the 
name of the Great Spirit and for their own welfare. I 
shall try my best to be at Fort Rice early next spring and 
leave St. Louis by the first good steamer. To that effect, I 
have offered my services to the Secretary of the Interior, 
should they allow me means to defray my expenses. I 
trust we may be able to make such arrangements as may 
suit to bring about the desired understanding and good will 
between the Indians and the whites. I coincide with you, 
that if peace can be made with the Sioux, the other tribes 
will soon follow their example. 

Please write often. Prepare the minds of the Indians 
in regard to my intended visit and let me know every par- 
ticular concerning them. 

I saw Miss Picotte the other day; she is very well. I 
sent two books by Captain Honey to Colonel Otis — I hope 
he will receive them. Present him my best respects and to 
your lady and friend Irane La Framboise and all other 
acquaintances. 

Most respectfully, etc. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE PEACE COMMISSION OF 1868. 

Projects for another visit to the hostiles — A German-Indian princess 

— With the generals to council at North Platte — Cheyenne and 
Sherman Pass — Back to Omaha and up the river — Reception at Fort 
Rice — Eagerness to accompany him — Start for the interior — Camp 
life — Sends tobacco to the enemy — Success of the scouts — Lovely 
landscape — Reception by the hostiles — Entry into Sitting Bull's camp 

— Confidential talks — The great council — Laying on of hands upon 
Indian children — The return — Successful consummation of treaties 
of peace — Testimonial of commissioners. 

St. Louis University, Dec. 21, 1867. 
Messrs. Galpin and La Framboise, Fort Rice: 

"inXEAR SIRS AND FRIENDS.— I received your letter 
^^ of the 1 2th October, in answer to mine of the 17th of 
September. The last letter of the 226. of October reached 
me some time ago. I am very thankful for the information 
you have had the kindness to give me. My health is toler- 
ably good at present. I hope to be at Fort Rice in the 
spring, as early as possible. I desire much to see the 
hostile tribes. For their own good they must come to 
a good understanding with the whites and accept the 
peaceful measures the Government proposes to them. In 
case of refusal on their part I am afraid they will see hard 
times. Try your best to obtain a favorable reception for 
me among the hostile bands ; I have only their welfare at 
heart. Give an answer at your earliest opportunity to the 
following queries : 

Will I be able to obtain an interpreter at Fort Rice, to ac- 
company me in the interior? A light strong conveyance, 
a driver and a couple of horses or mules? What sort of 

[890] 



INDIAN PEDIGREE WANTED. 89I 

goods and provisions should I best provide myself with? 
I mean goods to make little presents to the Indians I may 
meet, and provisions for my traveling companions and self 
during the trip. 

Please attend to the following and give me a speedy 
answer: At the house of a Mr. Rudolph Mackwith in St. 
Louis, a half-breed Sioux girl has been brought up. Her 
father, a German, whose name I do not remember at pres- 
ent, was a trader at Fort Pierre, at Vermillion, and prob- 
ably in other posts. He belonged to a noble family in 
Germany. His mother is wealthy and willing to adopt her 
Indian granddaughter. The German trader had for wife 
the daughter of the chief called " The One that Makes 
Stripes." Please give me his Indian name, and name of 
his daughter in Indian, with its meaning in English, and 
add whatever good qualities you may remember in regard 
to the chief and his daughter. To make the remembrance 
of the German trader clearer to you, he had also for wife 
(probably after the death of the daughter of the " The One 
that Makes Stripes"), the daughter of old Zephyr Ren- 
contre,^ who died at Yankton Agency, over two years ago 
and had been blind for a long time. If you will understand 
what all my inquiries mean, by stating confidentially that 
the relations of the German trader have been informed in 
due time of his marriage with an Indian princess, and they 
are anxious to admit the young princess into their noble 
family circle. She is young and beautiful and may in time 
become a European queen — who knows ? 

In your next letter enter into particulars, as much as you 
can, in regard to the hostile bands and their dispositions. 
The Commissioners, who have been lately on the Platte, 

1 Zephyr Rencontre was one of the most distinguished and capable 
of the Indian interpreters on the Missouri. His career was a long 
and useful one, running through some forty years of active service. He 
served on many important expeditions and was always trusted by his 
employers. His services to the Government were of great value. 



892 HOSTILES WILLING TO SEE DE SMET. 

are now in Washington, holding consultations on what has 
been done and on the future course to be adopted, in regard 
to the Indian war. Hitherto nothing is known of the reso- 
lutions taken. I hope they will terminate favorable. 

Present my best respects to the worthy Colonel Otis and 
all friends who may remember me at Fort Rice. 
Most respectfully, Dear Friends, 

Your humble servant and friend, 

P. J. De SMET, S. J. 

P. S. — I should have added to my first queries, to let me 
know the probable cost, monthly, for interpreter, driver, 
light wagon and horses or mules. 



St. Louis University, Jan. 28, 1868. 
General W. T. Sherman: 

General. — I hope my letter will reach you in Washing- 
ton and you will please excuse the liberty I take of address- 
ing you. I desire to expose to you my actual intentions 
and views, as to my future trip and visit among the Indian 
tribes on the Upper Missouri. I received several letters in 
the course of the present winter, from Messrs. Galpin and 
La Framboise, traders and interpreters at Fort Rice, ac- 
quainting me with their interviews with several chiefs and 
warriors of the hostile bands. They informed me that 
these Indians expressed on all occasions a great willingness 
and desire to see me and promised to use their influence to 
admit me among the hostile tribes. I have informed them 
that I was anxious to accede to their request and had an 
intention to make an early start and leave St. Louis in the 
first steamer bound for the Upper Missouri. Should my 
trip meet with the approval of the Honorable Mr. Taylor 
and Honorable Indian Commissioners, if thought worthy 



IN REGARD TO EXPENSES. 893 

of the charge, I would feel happy in exerting myself, to the 
best of my power, in carrying out any orders or intentions 
which might be confided to me. I hope I can truly say, 
that the object in offering my services in this affair pro- 
ceeds merely from a feeling for the general welfare. In my 
long intercourse among the Indian tribes (for about thirty 
years) I have found the Indians always kind and attentive. 
1 would feel happy indeed should I be able to do anything 
that might tend to promote their future welfare, in accord- 
ance with the views of Government. 

My intention is to visit the hostile bands of Indians, who 
may be willing to receive me, as early as possible and to use 
my utmost to instill into their minds, " peace and good will 
to all men." I must add, that my means are rather limited. 
I ask for no emoluments for myself, and am only perform- 
ing my yearly missionary excursion, to which I am in duty 
bound. When I sent in my accounts, last August, of the 
moneys confided to my care ($2,500) by the Commis- 
sioner of Indian Affairs, for my trip in the upper country, 
I had a surplus of $923.30, which I placed at the disposal 
of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. He left it in my 
hands till further orders. Might I not humbly ask for the 
use of that sum, toward the defraying of the necessary ex- 
penses of my coming excursion among the upper Indians. 
I shall need an interpreter, a small conveyance for my little 
baggage and provisions and one man in attendance. On 
such occasions and whilst there is danger of life, wages are 
pretty high. 

Pardon me, General, for troubling you in your many 
occupations. Your being a member of the " Indian Peace 
Commission " has encouraged me to address you on this 
subject. I shall feel most grateful to receive from you a 
word in answer to the above. 

With sentiments of the highest consideration of respect 
and esteem, 

I have the honor to be. General, 



894 SENDS WORD TO THE HOSTILES. 

St. Louis University, Feb. 22, 1868. 

Mr. Galpin, Fort Rice: 

Dear Sir. — I hope my letter of the 21st of December last 
reached you. I am anxiously awaiting an answer to my 
various queries. My health is tolerably good at present and 
should it continue, I propose leaving St. Louis in the begin- 
ning of next April, on one of the first boats, in company 
with Captain Hany. When occasions present themselves 
at Fort Rice, please let the Lidians of the interior know of 
my coming and let them be well and fully persuaded that 
nothing is nearer and dearer to my heart than their welfare 
and happiness. I pray daily to the Lord that peace and quiet 
might be restored and reign again through the land. It 
would be to me the greatest consolation should I be able to 
do anything to bring it about. On it alone depends alto- 
gether the future w^elfare of the Indians. I trust I shall 
meet some of the chiefs and warriors at Fort Rice and its 
vicinity, and I shall be able to accomplish my desire of visit- 
ing their friends in the interior for that purpose. I rely 
strongly upon your promise of last summer : that either 
yourself or Mr. La Framboise will accompany me and aid 
me to obtain the desired object. I remember well how 
deeply you felt interested last year, in bringing about the 
pacification of the Indians and offering your services. As 
to the terms, I may as well here add, I doubt not we shall 
be able to come to a good understanding. As expressed in 
my last letter, I hope I shall be able to hire, at Fort Rice, 
some vehicle or conveyance, with the necessary animals 
for my trip in the country. I should gladly receive the 
list I called for, of the most necessary goods and provisions 
I may most stand in need of. 

I see occasionally your good daughter. She is very well 
and continues to be much pleased with the academy. 

Please present my best respects to Colonel Otis, etc. 

Yours, 



CHANGES IN INDIAN AFFAIRS. 895 

St, Louis University, Feb. 25, 1868. 
Mr. F. F. Gerard: 

Dear Friend. — I received yesterday your kind favors of 
the 15th and 20th ult. for which I return you my most sin- 
cere thanks. Your graphic description of the wonderful ap- 
pearance of the sun on the 14th of January has been read 
with great pleasure and astonishment and shall be preserved. 

What you tell me of the condition of the Indians is truly 
afflicting and deplorable. I saw General Sherman a few 
days ago. He assured me that a resolution had been 
passed in Washington, that the distribution of annuities, 
henceforth, will be made under the special supervision of 
an officer of the army, whose special duty will be to pre- 
vent all frauds. An Indian Department, independent of 
all others, is to be instituted, very different in many points 
from the old Indian Bureau. I have not as yet seen its 
laws and regulations. When received I shall forward them 
to you. Continue to encourage White Shield and all our 
Indian friends about Berthold. All their speeches and com- 
plaints have been faithfully transmitted to the authorities 
in Washington, by Generals Sully and Parker. How far 
they may have been acted upon I cannot say. I have no 
doubt they will produce a good effect in favor of the Indians. 

At my arrival (August 12th) in Leavenworth from the 
upper country, I met the new Commissioners and gave them 
an exposition of my visit to the various tribes. They have 
been out till late in the fall. Their reports have not yet 
been published. They will return to the Indian country in 
the coming spring. I hesitate not to say, that the gentle- 
men composing the commission are all animated with the 
best of feelings toward the Indian tribes and to provide for 
their future welfare. Resistance on the part of the Indians 
will finally be overcome and bring great misery amongst 
them. I need not dwell on the consequences. You know 
them as well as myself and you certainly will continue to 
give them your good advices. 

I have always felt in favor of the Indians. In my long 



896 IS AWARE OF THE DANGER. 

intercourse with them, they have favorably impressed me 
and were it not for the continued injustices committed 
against them, they would, most assuredly, be a better peo- 
ple. For about thirty years I have visited the Indians and 
have found much consolation amongst them. I would feel 
happy if my humble and poor efforts could bring them any 
comfort, and in that desire I intend to pay them another 
visit, as early as possible. I will leave St. Louis (the Lord 
willing), at the end of next month, or beginning of April. 
I am fully authorized to make the trip. I must await cir- 
cumstances to regulate my trip. I intend to visit Forts Rice 
and Berthold — your advice and experience are always 
precious to me. My intention is, if I can possibly effect 
it, to penetrate into the interior among the hostile bands. 
I know the dangers of such a trip. I have no other motives 
than the welfare of the Indians and will trust entirely to 
the kind providence of God. Please keep to yourself what 
I am confiding to you, only tell good and trusty Indians to 
let the hostile bands know of my intended visit and of my 
intentions in their regard. Remember me to my good 
friend and chief. White Shield, and all my other Indian 
friends at Fort Berthold. My best respects and good 
wishes to my old and good friends, Pierre Garreau, to 
Beauchamp and Pierre my god-son and to all other white 
friends. 

At this moment the disturbances in Washington are very 
high in consequence of the impeachment of the President. 
You receive the papers. I shall not dwell upon political 
subjects. They are altogether out of my line. Our politi- 
cal horizon looks dark indeed! 



St. Louis University, Feb. 27, 1868. 
Honorable Sir: 

I received your favor of the 17th instant. Allow me to 
express my sincere gratitude for granting me the request 



GOVERNMENT PROVIDES FUNDS. 897 

I made, in my letter to General Sherman, and which he had 
the kindness to refer to you, to wit : " To be allowed to 
expend the balance ($923.30) left in my charge, toward 
defraying the expenses of my intended visit to the Indian 
tribes on the Upper Missouri river and plains." 

I accept with equal thankfulness your very kind offer, 
" should the amount above stated not be sufficient to meet 
your expenses, tht Office of Indian Affairs will see that 
the deficiency is paid upon the presentation of your state- 
ment and account." 

My intention is to proceed (at the opening of the Mis- 
souri river, in the upper country, toward the end of March 
or beginning of April), to Forts Rice or Berthold, to which 
posts the various tribes usually resort during the spring, 
and if practicable, or in any way possible, I will hence pro- 
ceed into the interior, to confer with the hostile bands, and 
use every exertion in my power to make them understand 
the dangers and evil consequences of the course they are 
following, and the benevolent views of Government in their 
regard. 

I shall receive with pleasure any instructions you may 
deem proper to confide wnth me, which I shall try to execute 
with all diligence and fidelity. 

With sentiments of the highest respect and esteem, I have 
the honor to be. Honorable Sir, 

Your very humble and obedient servant. 
Honorable N. G. Taylor, P- J. De SMET, S. J. 

Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 

Washington, D. C. 



St. Louis University, March 13, 1868. 
Honorable N. G. Taylor, 

Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C: 
Honorable Sir. — I hereby acknowledge the receipt of 
your letter of the 6th instant and feel sincerely grateful for 
57 



898 SUFFERINGS OF FRIENDLY INDIANS. 

the observations it contains in regard to my visit to the 
upper Indian tribes. Should the good weather continue, I 
hope I shall be able to set out on my mission at the end of 
the present month or beginning of April. 

My principal object in writing is to communicate to your 
kind attention the inclosed letter I just received from Fort 
Berthold. I have been acquainted and have corresponded 
with Mr. Gerard for a number of years and have always 
found him very reliable in his statements. From what ap- 
pears, the winter in the upper country has been unusually 
severe and the sufferings and destitution of the Indians at 
Fort Berthold have been very great. Ever since the treaty 
at Fort Laramie, in 1851, these poor Indians have ever been 
the true friends of the Government and have withstood all 
the endeavors, on the part of the hostile Sioux, to bring 
them over to their side. 

With sentiments of the highest respect and esteem, I 
have the honor to be, 



St. Louis University, March 17, 1868. 

Dear Sir. — I received your kind favor of the 9th ult. 
I am truly grateful to you for the exertions you have made 
to prepare the minds of the Indians in regard to the object 
of my intended visit and I am happy to learn of the good 
dispositions in which a great number of the Indians are in 
this respect. Continue to assure them that I have no other 
motive in visiting them than their own welfare and future 
happiness. It is assuredly my intention, if practicable, to 
see as many of the camps as I shall be able to meet. 

You state in your letter : " Should the commission come 
up here and give me timely warning, I think I will have 
them all here by the time you come." 

I shall communicate your proposition to General Sher- 
man or to the Honorable Mr. Taylor, and should they act 
upon it, they will, no doubt, let you know in due time. In 



PEACE COMMISSION TO MEET. 899 

asking instructions as to my own future movements in the 
upper country, I received, for answer: "Your judgment 
and experience will suggest to you the best manner in which 
to proceed in carrying out the desires and intentions of Gov- 
ernment, and if, in your course, circumstances should re- 
quire that other directions than those already given (in 
1867) should be furnished, they will in due time be com- 
municated to you." The telegraph from Washington 
(March i6th) in regard to the Indian Peace Commission, 
had the following: "The Indian Peace Commission will 
meet at Omaha the 2d of April. All the members expect 
to be present except Mr. Manderson. Generals Sheridan 
and Augur will also attend. The intention is to form 
parties to visit the Indian settlements, one to go to Fort 
Laramie and the other to New Mexico." 

How far this telegram may be relied upon I cannot say. 
As soon as I receive inside news I will let you know. I 
intend to leave St. Louis for Fort Rice at the end of the 
present month. I firmly rely upon your promise and assist- 
ance in bringing about good feelings and confidence toward 
the Government and whites in general among the hostile 
bands. 

I see your daughter occasionally at the convent. She is 
in the enjoyment of good health and very much beloved 
and esteemed by the kind and motherly ladies of the acad- 
emy. I intend to pay her a final visit before I leave St. 
Louis, and shall take charge of her commissions, if she has 
any to send to her good parents. 

Most respectfully, Dear Mr. Galpin, 



To the Hostile Camp on Pozvder River} 
Last March I was honorably requested by the United 
States Government, as in the preceding year, to go 

2 The following was prefaced to the copy of this letter which Father 
De Smet sent August 28, 1868, to the editor of the Precis Historiques, 
as published in volume VI of the third Belgian edition. 



900 COUNCIL AT NORTH PLATTE, 

among the Indians of the Upper Missouri, principally 
among the hostile bands of the Dakotas or Sioux, to en- 
deavor to bring them to peace and to make clear to them the 
critical and dangerous position in which they would be 
placed if they persisted in continuing their murders and 
brigandages upon the whites. 

On the 30th of March I left St. Louis, by rail, in com- 
pany with Generals Sherman, Harney, Sanborn, Terry, 
Sheridan and several other envoys of the Government, 
bound for Cheyenne City, Nebraska, by way of Chicago and 
Omaha. At North Platte City, at the junction of the two 
great forks of the Platte river, a council was held with 
Spotted Tail, head chief of the Brdles, and his principal 
warriors. This council terminated favorably, and was fol- 
lowed by a rich distribution of presents — victuals, gar- 
ments and weapons — which made the hearts of our sav- 
ages melt with joy. 

*' I have finished my modest article upon my excursion among the 
Indian tribes of the Upper Missouri. According to my promise and 
my custom, I send you the first copy. 

" This letter may ver)' well be my last. My health is very much un- 
dermined in consequence of the fatigues of my late painful journey of 
about 6,000 miles, but still more by the shocking heat that we have 
suffered for three months past. In proportion as I advance in age, 
heat becomes more and more insupportable to me. Very often any 
one would say that I resemble a man whose end is at hand. 

" Let us take up the subject of my travels. 

" After a few days spent among the Potawatomies of Kansas, I 
found myself really, as you might say, demolished, panting with open 
mouth for the slight breeze, hardly able to stir the little fine leaves 
of the acacias which surround and shade the Mission of St. Mary's. 
This was on the 29th of July. Every one was languishing. I was 
under a burning sun, with the thermometer ranging from 104 to 109° 
in the shade, and up to 130 in the sun. I shall, I doubt not, feel the 
effects for a long time; but, let us be patient, and hope! 

" I will try to give you in this letter an account of my missionary 
journey; but I beg that you will pay no attention to the disconnected- 
ness of my narrative." 

From the French of the Linton Album, p. 132 et seq. 



SHERMAN PASS AND OMAHA. 90 [ 

Clieyeriiie, by the way, is a real wonder in its way ; it was 
barely six months old on the 6th of last April, and had al- 
ready nearly 9,000 inhabitants. At the present time this 
floating city has hardly more than 3,000. Bentonville, in 
the same region, is only one month old, and on the fourth 
day of its existence it had a population of over 4,000. To- 
gether with the generals, we made an excursion of forty 
miles, for observation and pleasure, to the summit of the 
Black Hills, [Sherman Pass] which the railroad crosses on 
the way to San Francisco. We were assured that this is 
the highest point attained by a railroad hitherto, being 8,000 
feet above sea-level. The Peace Commissioners then turned 
their faces toward Fort Laramie. According to the ar- 
rangement, I returned to Omaha, where I spent the Paschal 
period. I then took passage on the steamer Columbia for 
Fort Rice, a distance by water of 1,005 miles. The Mis- 
souri was at that time very low, and our progress slow in 
consequence ; we had to get over and through many banks 
and bars of sand and clay. The greedy furnaces of our 
steamboat consumed fifteen to twenty cords of wood daily. 
When the boat stopped to cut or load a supply, I often had 
occasion to exercise the holy ministry among the inhabitants 
of the region who came down to the woodyard or wharf, 
marrying couples who were awaiting the presence of a priest 
to receive the nuptial benediction, and regenerating in the 
holy waters of baptism a great number of children and sev- 
eral adults. The captain and his first officer (father and 
son), the two pilots and others of the principal employees, 
were all good Catholics. I had my little chapel on board 
and I had every day the consolation of offering the holy 
sacrifice of the mass. The officers and the Catholic passen- 
gers took advantage of this to approach the holy table of 
the Lord from time to time, especially on the solemn feast 
days. After thirty-three days of constant struggle with the 
current, sandbars and snags, I thanked and bade farewell 
to the worthy captain and all my old and new acquaintances 



g02 RECEPTION AT FORT RICE. 

and was put ashore at Fort Rice,^ in the midst of a great 
number of Indians, who were waiting for me and over- 
whelmed me with frienship. They had come thither to be 
present at the great Peace Council. I reached Fort Rice 
on the morning of May 24th, the Feast of the Holy Virgin, 
"Aiixilium Christianorum/' a most propitious day to obtain 
from heaven favors for the poor Indian tribes, " seated for 
so many ages in the shadow of death." For a great number 
of years they have been asking urgently for Catholic mis- 
sionaries. Black-gowns, as they call them. This is the only 
region of the United States destitute of any spiritual aid. 
Will it some day be furnished with pastors, to lead these 
stray sheep, so favorably disposed, to the true fold of the 
Lord? 

Upon arriving at Rice, I had first to pass through a nu- 
merous file of Indians, ranged along the shore. In all their 
fantastic accoutrements, they made a truly picturesque and, 
for the kind, admirable spectacle ; their heads were adorned 
with feathers and silk ribbons, in which red and blue pre- 
dominated, and their faces were daubed with the most 
varied colors. I received a good grip from each one, ac- 
cording to their etiquette and usage; I noticed that those 
who knew me squeezed my hand much harder than the 
others. My little baggage was then taken to the lodging 
that had been prepared for me beforehand, and all the great 
chiefs of the different tribes were waiting for me there to 
hear the important news of the Government's intentions 
toward them. 

You will readily perceive that I had my hands full at Rice. 
The first four days after my arrival were employed in the 
instruction of the Indians and in conferring the holy sacra- 
ment of baptism upon all their little children, to the number 
of six or seven hundred. The 29th, 30th and 31st of May 

3 A military post, located on the right bank of the Missouri river, six 
miles above the mouth of the Cannonball river. It was established in 
1864. 




FATHER DE SMET RIDING WITH THE INDIAKS. 



LITTLE CHILDREN AND LAMPS. 903 

were devoted to the Catholic soldiers, (Irish and German). 
The greater part of them took advantage of the occasion 
to approach the tribunal of penance and the holy table, on 
the solemn day of Pentecost. 

The ist and 2d of June were passed in interviews with 
the Indian chiefs and in making my preparations for de- 
parture to go in search of and to meet the hostile bands in 
the interior country. My plan seemed to astonish them and 
they hardly concealed from me the dangers that were in- 
volved in it, even touching the security of my scalp. I 
answered them simply, " the little children, in all their in- 
nocence, are the little pets, the little angels of the Great 
Spirit on earth. Before the image of the Holy Virgin Mary, 
the good Mother and the great protectress of all nations, 
six lamps are burning night and day, through all the dura- 
tion of my journey. In St. Louis and in other places, more 
than a thousand little children are imploring every day, 
before these burning lamps, the favor and protection of 
heaven upon all the band who accompany me. I intrust 
myself with all my fears to the hands of the Lord." All of 
them then, as by one impulse, raised their hands toward 
heaven crying out " Oh ! that is fine ! We will go with 
you! When shall we start?" "To-morrow, at sunrise!" 

June 3d. I said my mass early to recommend the under- 
taking to heaven. A short account of my travelling com- 
panions will not, I trust, be inappropriate. Mr. Galpin, an 
old Indian trader, who has spent thirty years in the country, 
a man of honesty and great experience, generously offered 
to accompany me in the capacity of interpreter, together 
with his old wife, a Sioux by birth, a convert to our holy 
religion and who has great influence among all the tribes 
of her nation. I will add only the names of the principal 
chiefs of my escort. Two Bears, head chief of the powerful 
tribe of the Yanktonnais, who is at the head of 700 lodges 
or families ; a very remarkable man, from his great zeal for 
peace, his valor and his eloquence. He has solemnly 



904 THE ESCORT OF CHIEFS. 

adopted me as a brother. " Running Antelope " is chief 
of a large tribe of Hunkpapas, renowned for his bravery 
and his deeds of arms against his enemies, more especially 
against the whites. For the last year he has accepted all 
propositions of peace with frankness and ardor, and to-day 
he is maintaining them devotedly. Besides these I have 
Bear's Rib, The Log [le Soliveau], All Over Black [le Noir 
dans tout son entoiir], Returning Ghost, Red Cloud, Little 
Dog and Sitting Crow. These are all remarkable and 
famous chiefs ; they are at the head of my escort, with 
eighty of their principal braves and warriors. They be- 
long to various bands of the Sioux, as follows : the Yank- 
tonnais, Yanktons, Blackfeet Sioux, Hunkpapas, Minne- 
conjous, Ogallalas, Sissetons and Santees. All of them 
offered themselves generously and freely in my service, with 
the sole object of persuading their hostile brethren to lend 
me an attentive and favorable ear, and if need were to 
protect me. 

We were all assembled; a large circle was formed, in 
which several officers from the fort and some of the soldiers 
joined, besides a great number of Indians from all these dif- 
ferent tribes. I then offered a solemn prayer to the Great 
Spirit to put us in his keeping, and made a short address to 
the numerous friends who surrounded us, recommending us 
to their pious recollection. Our march began at seven in 
the morning. We started westward, following the direct 
course of the sun. We made this day twenty-two miles and 
encamped on the north bank of Cannonball river. 

The country in all the region which we traversed is \ery 
rolling and covered with a rich carpet of verdure and, at 
this season of the year, with a great variety of flowers, al- 
ways so agreeable to the sight. The starlike blossoms of 
the cactus, yellow, white and red, were especially prevalent. 
We had a heavy rain during the day, accompanied by a 
strong wind, which greatly delayed the progress of our two 
wagons, carrying our little provisions and the baggage of 
all my escort. When we reached our camping-place, it did 



THE EVENING CAMPFIRE. 905 

not take us long to make ourselves at home. All seemed 
animated and enchanted and went joyously to work. The 
hunters came in with four fine antelope. It would be diffi- 
cult to run down an antelope. It is spoken of as an extraor- 
dinary achievement, that one young Indian of my escort, 
pursuing one of these animals, by pushing his horse at top 
speed succeeded in lodging two arrows in the animal's body. 
The hunter makes use of a stratagem ; he imitates the cry of 
distress of the young ones, and when the antelope stops to 
look, he gets in his shot. 

While some busied themselves about the arrangement of 
their beds, composed of the small branches of willows and 
cottonwoods, others hastened to kindle fires, fill the kettles 
and coffee-pots and arrange rows of roasts on sharpened 
sticks, to content the inner man, or rather our famished 
stomachs, to use a more vulgar expression. Every Indian 
is the owner of an excellent stomach, and, according to my 
observation, a large capacity; the four antelope, together 
with a quantity of etceteras brought from Fort Rice, disap- 
peared rapidly at the first supper. Then, for their diges- 
tion's sake, they dance around a few times, with the most 
active movements of arms and legs, accompanied with joy- 
ful songs at the top of their voices, suited to the circum- 
stances in which they find themselves at the moment. Then 
they sit down, and while the inseparable calumet goes its 
slow rounds from mouth to mouth, they talk and argue upon 
the affairs of the day, tell stories, give their experiences in 
the chase or their exploits in war, laugh and joke until 
sleep overcomes them, when they go to bed. I took occa- 
sion to give them various lectures, instructing them in the 
good custom of offering their prayers of devotion to the 
Great Spirit, every morning on arising and before going to 
bed at night. 

June 4th. After passing a good and tranquil night, we 
rose early for the second day's travel. We quickly light the 
fires again, prepare the kettles and hot water, say the morn- 
ing prayers, take in haste our cup of coffee, our slice of meat 



906 THE CANNONBALL AND THE RAINY BUTTES. 

and our biscuit; all this takes about three-quarters of an 
hour. By five o'clock we were on the road. 

There is not room in this letter to give you, day by day, 
the details of our march and of the country we traversed. 
To spare you wearisome repetitions, I will mention here that 
the country through which we rode for about 250 miles, 
is a succession of smiling undulating plains and of immense 
high plateaus, entirely without timber. The soil, or vege- 
table earth, is very light throughout and in many places 
impregnated with saltpetre, making the standing water dis- 
agreeable to drink, and unwholesome. In summer espe- 
cially running water is scarce. The Cannonball river has 
but a small volume of flow throughout its entire course. It 
takes its source in certain promontories, visible at two days' 
journey, which the Indians call the Rainy or Cloudy Buttes, 
being incessantly enveloped in a bluish fog. All its tribu- 
taries consist of springs, and water-holes which in summer 
contribute their quota to the mother stream only in the fre- 
quent momentary showers, except in rainy seasons. It 
abounds in little fish, muskrats and beaver. Here and there 
on the banks of these little streams one finds the elder, the 
elm and the wild cherry, which has a pretty and fragrant 
flower and a very agreeable fruit, which the Indians gather 
with care. When wood fails, dry buffalo dung is used for 
fuel ; it burns like peat. The plains are covered with a short 
but very nutritious grass called buffalo grass, which will 
some day serve to support and fatten numberless domestic 
herds.* Everywhere the pomme blanche is found in abun- 
dance — a kind of wild potato, which Providence has sown 
here in profusion for the maintenance of its poor children 
of the desert. When an Indian is pressed by hunger, he 
has only to dismount from his horse, and armed with a little 
pointed stick of hard wood, which he always carries when 
traveling, he will pull out roots enough in ten minutes to 
satisfy him for the moment. This potato is farinaceous, 

•* This prophecy has long since been fulfilled in the immense stock- 
grazing business of the plains. 



PETRIFACTIONS AND LIGNITE. 907 

and is eaten raw or boiled, or cooked with meat; it is a 
great remedy for scurvy, a malady by which the Indians 
are hardly ever attacked. Beds of beautiful variegated 
flowers are seen especially in spots where the soil is very 
light and sandy. 

All through this region there are very high promontories 
or " buttes," which contain the springs where the little 
streams take their rise, and which tell the traveler the route 
he is to follow. I will mention here the most remarkable, 
as given me by my traveling companions. The Three 
Buttes, the Dog-tooth Butte, White Butte, Sand Butte, les 
buttes qui se regardcnt, and the Blue Stone Butte. These 
are the principal ones that we passed. The summit of the 
elevated plateaus that separate the waters of the Missouri 
from those of its great tributary, the Yellowstone, must have 
an elevation of 4,000 to 5,000 feet above sea-level. The 
surface of the country is covered with scoria, fragments of 
lava and petrified and crystallized wood. Evidently there 
have been violent convulsions here, changing the order of 
nature completely. There are still to be seen in great num- 
bers those mysterious remains of past ages, trunks of petri- 
fied trees, of enormous circumference and four to eight feet 
in height. At this day there is not a vestige of wood there 
remaining. I have made a little collection of petrifications 
in those parts, which is the wonder and admiration of our 
amateurs and professors of geology. The portion of the 
valley of the Yellowstone and its tributaries, which we 
traversed, is more sandy and sterile than the eastern part, 
on the Missouri slope ; it is the country par excellence, where 
the cactus, the Adam's Needle (Yucca), the absinths, arte- 
misia and all the plants peculiar to sterile lands, mature in 
perfection. Here too thick beds of lignite are noticed ; 
wherever they have been on fire, high reddish hills and 
mounds bear the marks of it. 

The large animals that belong to the region we covered 
(700 miles going and coming) are the buffalo, antelope, 
deer, elk, bighorn and bear. In the twenty-eight days that we 



908 SCOUTS IN SEARCH OF THE HOSTILES. 

were on the road, our hunters killed five buffalo, more than 
300 antelope, and some deer, bighorn and elk. Our rustic 
tables were abundantly supplied each day, and our good 
savages never ceased to do honor to the fare. 

As we went, we passed by the tombs of two braves, killed 
in the war and placed on scaffolds. My band halted an 
instant to pay them homage, smoke the calumet and sing 
in memory of their illustrious companions. To fight like a 
brave and die covered with wounds is to them the Ne plus 
ultra of glory. Here are their words : " Thou hast pre- 
ceded us to the land of souls. To-day at thy tomb we admire 
thy lofty deeds. Thy death has been avenged by thy broth- 
ers in arms. Repose in peace, illustrious warrior!" 
Women's melodious voices, mingling with the lugubrious 
tones of the men, rendered the funeral chant really impos- 
ing. If time permits, I will speak later in detail of their 
manners and customs when traveling. I have taken pleas- 
ure in making notes upon this subject during my long 
horseback ride. 

June 9th. After six days' journey, having found no trace 
of the hostile camps, we sent out four scouts from our es- 
cort — Le Soliveau, Red Cloud, Little Dog and Sitting 
Crow — to beat up the country in search of the enemy. We 
had agreed upon a direction to be followed and upon camp- 
ing places for several days in advance. Each of them was 
bearer of a small charge of tobacco. I should mention that 
sending tobacco is the same thing as a formal invitation, or 
the announcement of a desire to meet to confer upon import- 
ant affairs. If the tobacco is accepted, it is a sure sign that 
you will be admitted among them; if on the contrary it is 
refused, you may understand that all communication is for- 
bidden, and govern yourself accordingly. 

June 1 6th. We were camped at the sources of the Beaver 
river, a tributary of the Little Missouri'' of the Grosventres. 

^ Now the only stream called by this name. In Father De Smet's 
time the Teton or Bad river, which enters the Missouri at Fort Pierre, 
was also called Little Missouri. 



WHO ACCEPT TH& BLACK-ROBE S TOBACCO. 9O9 

It comes down from the mountainous hills which separate 
the waters of the Missouri from those of the Yellowstone. 
Late in the afternoon we perceived afar off the approach 
of a band of Indians. With a field glass we made out 
that it was our scouts returning, and before long they came 
in, at the head of a deputation of eighteen warriors, an- 
nouncing their arrival by sounding shouts and joyful songs. 
All came and shook hands with me with especial eagerness, 
and after we had smoked the pipe of peace together — a 
first proof of their good will toward me — they announced, 
in the name of the head chiefs of their camp, that " my to- 
bacco had been favorably received; that entry into their 
camp was open to the Black-robe alone ; that no other white 
man would get out of it with his scalp; that all the chiefs 
and warriors were awaiting me with impatience, wishing to 
hear me and learn the motives of my visit." 

Afterward we exchanged news, I learned that the big 
camp was three days' march away, in the Yellowstone val- 
ley, a few miles above the mouth of Powder river. The 
night was spent in feasts between the Indians of my escort 
and the newcomers, mingled with joyful songs and fra- 
ternal rounds of the calumet. They were uproarious re- 
unions, a la sauvage, but harmony and cordiality prevailed. 

June 17th. After more or less of a night's sleep, we broke 
camp early in the morning. It took us several hours to 
reach the divide. From this elevation the eye covers a 
most arid and desolate region; it seemed to us to be im- 
penetrable or impassable to our two wagons. It was our 
defile of Thermopylae. After careful examination, it was 
decided to go ahead, and by sheer strength of arms, and 
by doubling and tripling the number of animals for a dis- 
tance of six miles, all the ascents and descents were accom- 
plished. In that place there is little vegetation or verdure, 
or none at all. Thence we passed into the valley of the 
Poplar, level but very sandy for a great distance ; we camped 
near a pool of green and stagnant water. Here for the first 
time we found abundance of wood. All the following day 



9IO MEETING WITH THE HOSTILES. 

was occupied in crossing high rolHng plains, in which cactus 
and absinths predominated for a distance of twenty-five 
miles, and we encamped on the Big Sandy, a tributary of 
Poplar river. 

Finally on the 19th, after crossing a fine plateau about a 
dozen miles wide, we came to the beautiful hills which line 
Powder river. I will say but a word of the lovely land- 
scape which was presented to our sight. Powder river lay 
before us ; its bed is wide and sandy, not deep ; at a short 
distance on our right it pays its tribute to the Yellowstone 
and mingles its waters with those of a great cataract or 
rapid above its mouth, the dull sound of which is heard from 
afar, resembling the distant roll of thunder. At this point, 
the mountainous hills of the Yellowstone, though entirely 
sterile, are very picturesque and remarkable. 

Some four miles off in the Powder river bottoms, we saw 
a strong force of horsemen, composed of 400 to 500 war- 
riors, coming to meet me; I at once had my standard of 
peace hoisted, with the holy name of Jesus on one side 
and on the other the image of the holy Virgin Mary, sur- 
rounded with gilt stars. They took it at first sight for 
the hated flag of the United States. At this signal, all 
the cavalcade halted and appeared to enter into consultation. 
Immediately afterward, the four head chiefs came toward 
us at full speed, and seemed as it were to flit around the 
banner. They considered it, and upon perceiving its mean- 
ing and high importance, they came up and shook my hand 
and made signals to all their warriors to advance. They 
then formed into a single long line or phalanx ; we did the 
same, and with the flag at our head we went to meet them. 
At the same time the air resounded with shouts and songs 
of joy on both sides. I was touched even to tears at sight 
of the reception which these sons of the desert, still in pa- 
ganism, had prepared for the poor Black-robe. It was the 
fairest spectacle in which I have ever had the happiness of 
taking part, and, against all expectation, it was filled with 
manifestations of the profoundest respect. Everything was 



ENTRANCE INTO THE VILLAGE. 9II 

wild and noisy, but at the same time everything was car- 
ried out in admirable order. Upon arriving at a distance 
of 200 to 300 yards, the two columns halted face to face. 
All the chiefs came and shook hands with me in sign of 
friendship, and bade me welcome to their country. Then, 
surrounded by the chiefs, I shook hands with all the war- 
like cohort. Exchanges of horses, weapons and garments 
took place at the same time between the two columns. 

This first ceremony ended, the four head chiefs acted as 
an escort to me, as a guard of honor and to prevent any 
perfidious attack by secret traitors who might be determined 
to take vengeance on the pale-face.^ Preceded by the ban- 
ner of the holy Virgin, we next took the direction of the 
main camp, which was ten or twelve miles away and con- 
sisted of nearly 600 lodges. Once across Powder river, a 
close column was formed, and strict military order was ob- 
served. The accoutrements were wholly savage. Plumes 
of eagles and other birds adorned their long hair, and even 
their steeds had them in their manes and tails, mingled with 
silk ribbons of various colors and scalps captured from the 
enemy. Each one had his visage daubed according to his 
own ideas, with black, yellow or blue, streaked and spotted 
in every imaginable shade. I took part in this real and 
unique masquerade, which is seen but seldom here and 
which I had in no wise expected. Nevertheless, my heart 
was as tranquil and my mind as calm as if I had been in 
the midst of you, and I ceased not to form very sincere 
vows for their conversion. We made our entry into the 
camp in the midst of 4,000 to 5,000 Indians, big and little, 
who received us with every sign of lively and sincere joy. 
Soon afterward, I took possession of a large lodge, pitched 
in the centre of the camp, which had been prepared for me 

6 By the penal code in force among the savages, every Indian who has 
lost a member of his family at the hands of the whites is obliged to 
avenge himself on the first white man he meets. Well, there were a 
good many of them in this position at the time of my arrival among 
them. — Author's Note. 



912 STATEMENT BY SITTING BULL. 

by order of the generalissimo of the warriors, Sitting Bull, 
and which was guarded night and day by a band of his most 
faithful soldiers. Hunger and weariness had taken pos- 
session of me ; a mouthful of food was prepared for me in 
haste, and I took a little nap without delay. 

When I awoke, I found Sitting Bull beside me, together 
with Four Horns, head chief of the camp, Black Moon, his 
great orator, and No Neck. Sitting Bull presently ad- 
dressed me, saying : " Black-robe, I hardly sustain myself 
beneath the weight of white men's blood that I have shed. 
The whites provoked the war; their injustices, their indig- 
nities to our families, the cruel, unheard of and wholly un- 
provoked massacre at Fort Lyon (where Chivington com- 
manded)^ of 600 or 700 women, children and old men, 
shook all the veins which bind and support me. I rose, 
tomahawk in hand, and I have done all the hurt to the whites 
that I could. To-day thou art amongst us, and in thy 
presence my arms stretch to the ground as if dead. I will 
listen to thy good words, and as bad as I have been to the 
whites, just so good am I ready to become toward them." 
After this the chiefs talked with me of preparations to be 
made for the Great Council to be held on the morrow. 

The remainder of the day, until a very late hour, was 
spent in visits and in conversation with the principal war- 
riors and representative men of the camp. One incident 
that was both consoling and worth reporting took place in 
my lodge. A venerable old man, of remarkable stature 
but bowed beneath the weight of age, supporting himself 
on a staff tipped with an old bayonet, came to offer me his 
hand and express his happiness at seeing me again. He 
wore upon his breast a copper cross, old and worn. This 
was the only religious token that I had observed in all the 
camp ; it filled me with joy and emotion. I questioned him 

7 Sand Creek, Colorado, forty miles below Fort Lyon. Colonel Chiv- 
ington, of the First Colorado Cavalry, organized the massacre ; Major 
Anthony commanded at Fort Lyon and aided Chivington in person and 
with troops. 



FRUITS OF AN EARLY MISSION. 913 

eagerly and with interest, to know from whom he had re- 
ceived this cross. After a moment's thought, and counting 
on his fingers, he answered, " It was you. Black-robe, who 
gave me this cross. I have never laid it aside for twenty- 
six snows. The cross has raised me to the clouds among 
my people " (meaning that it had made him great and re- 
spectable). " If I still walk on earth, it is to the cross 
that I owe it, and the Great Spirit has blessed my numerous 
family." 

I begged him to explain further, and he continued : 
" When I was younger, I loved whisky to madness, and at 
every chance I would get drunk and commit excesses. It 
is now twenty-six snows since my last turbulent orgy. I 
was stupid and sick from it; just then I had the good for- 
tune to meet you, and you made known to me that my be- 
havior was against the will of the Master of Life and of- 
fended him grievously. Since then, I have often had op- 
portunities; my friends have sometimes sought to induce 
me to join them in their illicit enjoyments, and often my 
old evil inclination would combat my good will, which 
desired to resist the temptation. Every time the cross has 
come to my help. I would take it between my hands, 
imploring the Great Spirit to give me strength, and your 
words, Black-robe, would come to my mind. Ever since we 
first met, I have renounced drink, and have never tasted a 
drop." 

Armed with the grace of God, the good old man's 
strength of soul and his good will to resist temptation were 
really admirable. This good, simple-hearted savage, liv- 
ing among his pagan brothers, in the most hostile camp in 
the desert, had little trouble in comprehending the most 
lofty things; he received the light of intelligence from on 
high and drew strength from the humble little cross. As 
Thomas a Kempis so well says (book II, chap. XII), the 
poor savage " found in the cross a refuge against his evil 
nature, an infusion of heaven's sweetness, strength to his 
soul and gladness to his mind." He had always retained a 
58 



914 OPENING OF THE COUNCIL. 

hope of seeing me again; (something very essential was 
still lacking). I encouraged him to persevere in his good 
intentions. I spoke to him of the high importance of the 
Holy Sacrament of Regeneration, which would render him 
worthy to enter after death into the heavenly fatherland, 
to live eternally among the happy children of the Great 
Spirit. Padanegricka, or '' Yellow Rickaree," was the old 
man's name. When I left the camp after the council, he 
followed me for 350 miles. Every evening, when we en- 
camped, he received an instruction, and on the 28th of last 
June he was solemnly baptized under the name of Peter. 
He evinced the most lively gratitude, and returned joyfully 
to the camp he had left. 

June 2 1st, day of the Great Council. From an early 
hour, men and women were busy preparing the spot where 
the council was to be held; this spot covered nearly a half 
acre of ground, or 2,420 square yards. The whole place 
was surrounded by a series of tepees or Indian lodges, com- 
posed of twenty to twenty-four buffalo-skins each, which 
were suspended on long pine poles. The banner of the holy 
Virgin occupied the centre, and on one side a seat was pre- 
pared for me of fine buffalo-robes. When all the Indians, 
4,000 to 5,000 in number, had taken their places, I was 
solemnly introduced into this salon champetre, which was 
improvised for the occasion by the two head chiefs, Four 
Horns and Black Moon. I took my seat. The council was 
opened with songs and dances, noisy, joyful and very wild, 
in which the warriors alone took part. Then Four Horns 
lighted his calumet of peace; he presented it first solemnly 
to the Great Spirit, imploring his light and favor, and then 
offered it to the four cardinal points, to the sun and the 
earth, as witnesses to the action of the council. Then he 
himself passed the calumet from mouth to mouth. I was 
the first to receive it, with my interpreter, and every chief 
was placed according to the rank that he held in the tribe. 
Each one took a few puffs. When the ceremony of the 
calumet was finished, the head chief addressed me, saying.. 



THE BLACK-ROBES ADVICE. 915 

** Speak, Black-robe, my ears are open to hear your words." 
All this was done with the greatest gravity and amid a 
profound silence. 

I will close this letter by giving you an abridged account 
of the transactions and speeches that took place at the coun- 
cil. Although it lasted three or four hours, everything 
passed off in perfect order and decorum. 

Rising to my feet and raising my hands to heaven, I made 
a prayer to the Great Spirit, imploring light and blessing 
from him and his help in this great meeting. Then, for 
almost an hour, I laid before them the disinterested motives 
that had brought me among them, which could only tend to 
their happiness, if my words were well understood. Espe- 
cially I spoke to them of the dangers with which they were 
surrounded, and of their weakness beside the great strength 
of the whites, if the " Great Father " were forced to use it 
against them. The harm done by the war had been terrible, 
and the crimes committed on both sides had been atrocious. 
The Great Father desired that all should be forgotten and 
buried. Today his hand was ready to aid them, to give 
them agricultural implements, domestic animals, men to 
teach them field-work and teachers of both sexes to instruct 
their children, and all this offered them without the least 
remuneration or cession of lands on their part. 

All these points were discussed, and it was resolved to 
send a deputation to the peace commissioners, at my request. 
Four chiefs spoke; all took practically the same line of 
argument. It will be enough to give you the speech of 
Black Moon, together with the ceremonies accompanying it. 
He rose, calumet in hand, and addressing his people, said 
" Lend an ear to my words." Then he raised the calumet 
solemnly to heaven and lowered it to earth ; thus invoking, 
by the Indian interpretation, heaven and earth as his wit- 
nesses. At his request, I touched the calumet with my lips, 
putting my right hand on the stem. I smoked a few puffs ; 
he did the same; and the pipe passed on to others. Then 
he said, in a loud voice : " The Black-robe has made a long 



9l6 BLACK moon's REPLY. 

journey to come to us; his presence among us makes me 
very glad, and with all my heart I wish him welcome to my 
country. I can understand all the words that the Black- 
robe has just said to us ; they are good and filled with truth. 
I shall lay them up in my memory. Still, our hearts are 
sore, they have received deep wounds. These wounds have 
yet to be healed. A cruel war has desolated and impover- 
ished our country; the desolating torch of war was not 
kindled by us ; it was the Sioux east of us and the Cheyennes 
south of us who raised the war first, to revenge themselves 
for the white man's cruelties and injustice. We have been 
forced to take part, for we too have been victims of their 
rapacity and wrongdoing. To-day, when we ride over our 
plains, we find them spotted here and there with blood; 
these are not the blood-stains of buffalo and deer killed in 
the chase, but those of our own comrades or of white men, 
sacrificed to vengeance. The buffalo, the elk, the antelope, 
the bighorn and the deer have quitted our immense plains ; 
we hardly find them any more, except at intervals, and 
always less numerous. May it not be the odor of human 
blood that puts them to flight ? I will say further — against 
our will, the whites are interlacing our country with their 
highways of transportation and emigration ; they build forts 
at various points and mount thunders upon them. They 
kill our animals, and more than they need. They are cruel 
to our people, maltreat and massacre them without reason, 
or for the slightest cause, even when they are searching for 
food, for animals and roots to nourish their wives and chil- 
dren. They cut down our forests in spite of us, and with- 
out paying us their value. They are ruining our land. 
We are opposed to having these big roads which drive the 
buffalo away from our country. This soil is ours, and we 
are determined not to yield an inch of it. Here our fathers 
were born and are buried. We desire, like them, to live 
here, and to be buried in this same soil. We have been 
forced to hate the whites; let them treat us like brothers 
and the war will cease. Let them stay at home; we will 



CLOSING SONG AND DANCE. 917 

never ^o to trouble them. To see them come in to build 
their cabins revolts us, and we are determined to resist or 
die. Thou, Messenger of Peace, thou hast given us a 
glimpse of a better future. Very well ; so be it ; let us hope. 
Let us throw a veil over the past, and let it be forgotten. I 
have only a word more to say; in the presence of all my 
people, I express to you here my thanks for the good news 
that you have announced and for all your good counsel and 
advice. We accept your tobacco. Some of our warriors 
will go with you to Fort Rice to hear the words and the 
propositions of the Great Father's commissioners. If their 
words are acceptable, peace shall be made." Then he took 
his seat. 

Black Moon was followed by Sitting Bull, Two Bears 
and Running Antelope. They all touched on the same 
matters as Black Moon and pronounced in favor of peace. 
It is useless to report the different speeches, the first will 
suffice. 

At the close of the council, at the moment of breaking up, 
the chiefs begged me most earnestly to leave my great 
banner of Peace with them as a souvenir of the great day of 
the council. I gladly acceded to their wish. I presented 
the banner to them in sign of gratitude for the confidence 
with which they had inspired me in all their behavior 
toward me and the speeches that they had just uttered. At 
the same time, I conceived a sincere hope that the banner, 
bearing the sweet name of Jesus and the lovely image of 
the Virgin, Mother of all nations and Queen of Heaven, 
might be a gage of future happiness and welfare to all the 
tribe. I recommended them very specially to the protec- 
tion of the holy and good Mother, the " auxilium et 
refiigium Indianonim," as anciently in Paraguay, in 
Canada, everywhere and forevermore. 

Afterward there was a singing that roused the echoes of 
the hills and a dance that made the ground tremble. This 
was the end of the council; it closed tranquilly, in good 
order and harmony. Every man then went his way. I 



9l8 STORY OF CHIEF GALL 

betook myself to my lodge, and the principal Indians fol- 
lowed me thither. Then a large number of little Indians 
appeared, led by their mothers, who had also their pa- 
pooses or young babies in their arms. I at once came forth 
to them, and they crowded around, with a rare trustfulness, 
very unusual among Indian children, to offer me their little 
hands. The mothers were not satisfied until I had laid my 
hands upon the heads of all the babies and little ones around 
me, when they withdrew contented and happy. 

A standard-bearer was chosen from among the most dis- 
tinguished warrior, named Gall [le Fiel]. He is a very re- 
markable man, by reason of his sufferings and a wonderful 
escape from the bayonets of the American soldiers. He 
told me the story of his troubles, and I touched with my 
fingers the scars he bears. He had been arrested on a 
charge of stealing horses. It was in the dead of winter, 
and the ground was covered with snow. On the road to 
the prison at the fort, the soldiers thought or feared that 
he intended to escape, and they ran him through the body 
twice with bayonets. He fell, bathed in blood, but being 
still conscious, he counterfeited death. They trampled him 
and kicked him, covering him with bruises. To finish their 
cowardly and cruel work upon their prisoner, they thrust 
a third bayonet through his neck, and at last threw him 
into a deep ravine. Here he lay unconscious for quite a 
while, entirely naked, on the drifted snow. When he came 
to himself, it was already far into the night. He got up, 
and walked about twenty miles. When he reached the tim- 
ber, on the bank of the Missouri, he found a fire, at which 
he warmed his limbs, stiffened by the cold. The hope of 
life returned to him then, and he implored the Great Spirit 
to " take pity on him and preserve him." He then quenched 
his burning and feverish thirst and washed off from his 
body the clotted blood that covered it. In the hope of meet- 
ing some one, he continued to drag himself on, and after 
traveling some miles farther he discovered an Indian lodge. 
It was that of old Peter, Padanegricka, who treated him like 



AND HIS SEVEN SCALPS. 919 

a veritable Samaritan. When it was daylight, his host 
conveyed him on a stretcher to the main camp, where he was 
received with all the honors of a great warrior. Upon hear- 
ing his tale of the soldiers' cruelty and seeing his wounds, 
the rage of the warriors knew no bounds, and a great num- 
ber of unhappy whites fell victims to it. In less than a year 
Gall himself set out on his war of vengeance, and returned 
to camp amid acclamations, with seven white scalps on the 
end of his lance. Gall was one of the Hunkpapa deputies 
who accompanied me to Fort Rice. He was well received 
there by the generals of the commission and the officers of 
the post ; he took part in the Great Council, made the first 
speech and signed the treaty of peace. He was loaded with 
presents, and returned satisfied to his people. 

June 2 1 St, Feast of St. Louis of Gonzagues. I said my 
mass at an early hour, and before sunrise we commenced 
our return to Fort Rice, where the Government commis- 
sioners were awaiting me. My escort of eighty-four men 
was on the spot. The eight Hunkpapa deputies were also 
on hand, and some thirty families of the hostile camp (num- 
bering 1 60) chose to accompany me. As at my arrival, the 
four head chiefs and the principal warriors acted as my 
escort, and only left me after seeing me across Powder 
river, showing me esteem and respect to the last. 

We traveled thirty-five to forty-five miles every day f the 
weather was fine and favorable and wild animals (buffalo 
8 While on the way back the following correspondence passed be- 
tween Father De Smet and the commissioners : 

Box Elder Camp, June 25, 1868. 
Honorable Peace Commissioners: 

On the 2ist instant, we left the united camp of Uncpapos, Blackfeet 
Sioux, Minnicanjous, some Sans Arcs, etc., consisting of over 500 
lodges. They were encamped on the Yellowstone River, about four 
miles above the mouth of the Powder river. This day we start the 
bearer "All Over Black " with these few lines to give you some idea of 
our success at the camp, which from all appearance has been most favor- 
able. The full details of our reception and of the great council held on 
the next day, I shall omit for the present and reserve for our arrival 



920 RETURN TO FORT RICE. 

and antelope) were abundant. As we journeyed, I con- 
ferred the holy sacrament of baptism on some sixty small 
children and five adults of advanced age, among whom was 
the good old man, Peter. On the 30th of June we made 
our solemn entry into Fort Rice, where we were received 
with demonstrations of the liveliest joy by the peace com- 
missioners, the army officers and thousands of Indians who 
were there assembled. 

at Fort Rice. The other day I held a council with the principal men 
who accompanied us to the hostile camp — they are all unanimous in 
testifying that the object of our mission has been accomplished. The 
camp has sent several of their principal men, who are now with us, to 
make the final arrangements at Fort Rice. The reception the Indians 
gave us (over 400 in number, who had come in advance to meet us) 
was one of the grandest I ever witnessed. They were headed by the 
Black Moon, Sitting Bull, the Gall, No Neck, White Gut, and many 
other of the principal chiefs and braves. 

We hope to meet the Honorable Commissioners in about five days. 

With sentiments of profound respect and esteem, I have the honor 
to be 

Your obedient servant, 

P. J. De SMET, S. J. 

Honorable Peace Commissioners, Fort Rice. 

Fort Rice, June 28, 1868. 
Rev. P. J. De Smet, S. J. : 

Dear Sir. — Messengers bringing your letter of the twenty-fifth inst. 
arrived this morning. We are delighted to learn that your expedition 
has been so successful, and we feel that not only ourselves but the 
nation owes you a debt of gratitude for the extremely valuable service 
which you have rendered to it. Generals Harney and Sanborn ar- 
rived here on the twenty-first and they will remain until a treaty can 
be consummated. I very much regret to learn from a letter to La 
Framboise from Major Galpin, that you are quite unwell. I sincerely 
trust that you are suffering from only temporary illness and that the 
rest and quiet which will follow your return will speedily restore you 
to health. 
With sentiments of the highest respect, I am, dear sir. 
Your most obedient servant, 

ALFRED H. TERRY, 

Bvt. Major-General. 



THE GREAT PEACE COUNCIL. 92 1 

The Great Peace Council took place on the 2d of July. 
Fifty thousand Indians were there represented. It was the 
greatest council that had been held on the Missouri in fifty 
years. Everything passed off favorably, and the treaty of 
peace was signed by all the chiefs and principal warriors. 
On the 3d and 4th of July, the distribution of presents was 
made, in good order and to the great satisfaction of the 
savages. 

I left the same day to visit several tribes encamped near 
Fort Sully, where I gave baptism to all the young children. 
Afterward I gave a mission for the Catholic soldiers, and 
on the nth of the same month I started down the river for 
Fort Leavenworth, going thence to St. Mary's Mission. 

Inasmuch as the testimonial of the peace commissioners 
has a bearing on my mission among the hostile tribes, al- 
though undeserved on my part, you will permit me to close 
this little narrative by adding it. 

P. J. DeSMET, S. J. 



Fort Rice, D. T., July 3, 1868. 

Rev. P. J. De Smet, S. J. : 

Dear Sir. — We the undersigned, the members of the In- 
dian Peace Commission who have been present at the council 
just terminated at this post, desire to express to you our high 
appreciation of the great value of the services which you 
have rendered to us and to the country by your devoted 
and happily successful efforts to induce the hostile bands 
to meet us and enter into treaty relations to the Govern- 
ment. We are satisfied that but for your long and painful 
journey into the heart of the hostile country, and but for the 
influence over even the most hostile of the tribes which your 
years of labor among them have given to you, the results 
which we have reached here could not have been accom- 
plished. We are well aware that our thanks can be but of 



922 TESTIMONIAL OF COMMISSIONERS. 

little worth to you, and that you will find your true reward 
for your labors and for the dangers and privations which 
you have encountered in the consciousness that you have 
done much to promote peace on earth and good will to 
men; but we should do injustice to our own feelings were 
we not to render to you our thanks and express our deep 
sense of the obligations under which you have laid us.® 
We are, Dear Sir, 

With sentiments of the highest respect, 
Your Very Obedient Servants, 

Wm. S. HARNEY, 
Bvt. Majr.-Gen. & Indian Peace Comr. 
JOHN B. SANBORN, Com. 
ALFRED H. TERRY, 
Bvt. Major-General U. S. A. & Comr. 



9 Both the above letters are in General Terry's handwriting. 
See also page 1584 for an interesting letter by General Stanley. 



CHAPTER VII. 

LAST JOURNEYS OF FATHER DE SMET. 

A fall on board ship — Beautiful weather at sea — Neptune once 
more — Peaceful crossing — Escorts party of sisters for Montana as 
far as Omaha — Visits his first neophytes, the Potawatomies, again — 
Their present status — Still planning for a Sioux mission. 

University of St. Louis.* 
Very Dear and Worthy Doctor: 

tPlOU ask me for a fresh letter, or rather for the continua- 
U/ tion of the skeleton of my itinerary. For the last 
twelve years, at each of my returns to St. Louis, you have 
been placing, joyously, your album upon my table. Each re- 
curring sight of it is to me a fresh pleasure, like a meeting 
with an old and familiar acquaintance, and immediately I 
resume my pen with gladness, to lengthen the old skeleton 
with one more page. Taking them altogether, my last 
journeys, whether by land or by sea, have been fortunate 
and tranquil. I have only a single accident to record; it 
was on my eighteenth crossing of the Atlantic. I was on 
board the City of Baltimore, last December, and two days 
before I reached Liverpool, a furious storm arose — the 
rolling of the boat was violent — it is the time for falls! 
Take care ! I made a miss — I took my fall, and had two 
ribs fractured — lucky, as the Belgians say, in these kinds 
of misunderstandings, to have come out of the mix-up with 
head, legs and arms safe. I will give you here my nine- 
teenth crossing of the Atlantic. 

On the 1 2th of June, after taking my farewell of the Rev- 
erend Fathers of Notre Dame College at Antwerp and of 
the friends who had escorted us on board — after receiving 

1 From the Linton Album, p. 148. Written in French. 
[923I 



924 USUAL PROLOGUE TO A VOYAGE. 

their good wishes for a fortunate crossing, the City of 
Dublin gave her last signal for departure, at one in the 
afternoon, and majestically descended the Scheldt. In the 
evening we issued upon the North Sea, in calm and serene 
weather — the setting of the sun on such an occasion, al- 
ways so beautiful and among the great wonders of the Lord, 
was watched with admiration by all the passengers on board. 

Furious winds always create torments on the ocean. On 
the second day out, Sunday, the City of Dublin was tipping 
and pitching over the surface of the waves — it was the 
timely moment chosen by Neptune to levy his tax and exact 
his painful tribute from the passengers on board. The 
greater number submitted, willing or not, without the least 
resistance. This is a sorrowfully amusing scene — con- 
tagious moreover to the spectator ; but it seldom has serious 
consequences. Our 400 passengers, with few exceptions, 
had as if by a common agreement and simultaneously 
adopted a dolorous bearing, accompanied by grimaces and 
gestures and by efforts to yield up and satisfy the exigen- 
cies of the pitiless Neptune. All the deck presented groups 
of families, standing or lying, pell-mell, fathers, mothers 
and children, sparing not one another, covered and sur- 
rounded with most disagreeable heaps. The comedy lasted 
until toward evening, when the ocean resumed its calm 
and the boat ceased its rolling. Pumps and buckets were 
then brought into use, and all these slutteries deposited on 
the deck were thrown into the sea, to serve as pasture to 
the sea-calves and their numerous aquatic comrades — the 
gulls followed the vessel in flocks, and participated also in 
the great feast of the Neptunian tax. 

On the 1 6th, with superb weather, the City of Dublin 
entered the beautiful bay of Queenstown, Ireland. The 
whole day was employed in taking on coal ; at eight in the 
evening of the same day the anchor was raised and the 
steamer shot forth again toward its destination. The ocean 
was calm and tranquil, and maintained its serenity there- 
after throughout the crossing. The wind, or rather the 



A QUIET AND PEACEFUL CROSSING. 925 

breeze, without being strong, was always contrary. I may 
remark here that westerly winds predominate, ordinarily, in 
these seas, through three-quarters of the year. 

In the neighborhood of the Banks of Newfoundland, for 
several days in succession, the fogs were so thick that the 
alarm-whistle had to be kept going, to prevent any meeting 
or collision with other boats. This piercing whistle is a 
mournful sound, repeated every five minutes, day and 
night — it is difficult to accustom one's self to it. At this 
season of the year, these fogs are caused by the meeting 
and mingling of the warm water of the Gulf Stream with 
the cold water of the Arctic Current, which brings down 
in its course numerous glacial islands, detached from the 
coasts of the North Pole. These islands often have a depth 
beneath the surface of thirty to forty yards. From time to 
time, whales, sharks and other marine monsters came and 
offered .themselves to our view, as if to amuse us with their 
leaps and plunges, and thus vary the sad monotony of our 
long voyage. 

The passengers on the City of Dublin were for the most 
part Germans and Swiss, with a sprinkling of Belgians, 
Hollanders, French and Italians. A large number were 
Catholics, and we had the sweet consolation of being able 
to be useful to them in a religious way especially. The 
greater part were artisans or farmers, seeking to find work 
and better their lot in America. All our crossing was quiet 
and peaceful; so far as I know, there was no serious call 
made either on the surgeon or on his stock of drugs, and 
not the slightest accident occurred to trouble or delay the 
vessel in her progress. We humbly attributed all these 
favors to the numerous good prayers offered in behalf of 
our travelers. Glory to God and to the Immaculate Virgin, 
Stella Maris, for all the kindness of heaven. 

On the 29th, in the forenoon, we entered the harbor of 
New York — the summer was then at the height of its 
heat — truly, it was very exhausting to me. The change 
from the moderate calm climate of Belgium was too sud- 



926 THE RAILROAD JOURNEY HOME. 

den, and I felt it very much. I obtained free entry of all 
my effects at the custom-house, which I consider a distin- 
guished favor. I had four great trunks and five boxes, con- 
taining sacred vessels, pictures and ornaments for our poor 
Indian churches, and books for our libraries. I had to 
spend a couple of days in running about New York, to at- 
tend to my little affairs and execute my commissions. 

Early in the morning of the 2d of July, I left the com- 
mercial metropolis of the Union, with its million inhabit- 
ants, by the Ohio and Mississippi railroad. This line 
crosses one of the richest valleys of Pennsylvania and the 
handsome and picturesque vales of the Alleghany Moun- 
tains. It crosses the fertile States of Ohio, Indiana and 
Illinois from east to west. Everywhere the harvest was 
abundant and beautiful, and the crop promises to surpass 
those of any preceding years. 

On the 3d, toward four in the afternoon, I reached Cin- 
cinnati, some 900 miles distant from New York. There I 
remained until the 6th, and on the 7th I found myself at 
the end of my long wanderings, in the midst of my dear 
brothers in Jesus Christ. 

A little resume of my last sixteen months' travels will 
doubtless interest you, and I will here add them to my 
" Itinerary." In the long letter preceding this ( 1868), that 
I had the honor to forward to you, and to have copied into 
the Album, concerning my visits and missions among the 
hostile tribes of the Great Plains, from the beginning of 
April, 1868, to my return to St. Louis in the course of the 
autumn of the same year, the distances traveled amount to 
5,200 miles, as may be found recorded in the general cata- 
logue of my travels on page 60 of the Album. There re- 
mains to add the following list of mileage for 1868-9 to 
my itinerary. I include my travels and visits during my 
last trip abroad, in Belgium, Holland, France and England, 
as far as to the fair College of Stonyhurst, in Lancashire, 
which amount to over 2,500 miles. 



STATEMENT OF MILEAGE. 927 

1868. Miles. 

Nov. 21. I went from St. Louis to New York via 

Cincinnati 1,200 

25. I embarked at New York for the port 

of Liverpool 3, 100 

Dec. II. I left Liverpool, via London, Antwerp 

and Ghent for Termonde 500 

1868-9. 

My travels in Belgium, Holland, France 

and England 2,500 

1869. 
June 12. I left the port of Antwerp for Queens- 
town 579 

16. From Queenstown bay to the port of 

New York 2,900 

July 2. From New York, via Philadelphia, 

Pittsburg, Cincinnati to St. Louis. . . 1,200 

Forming a total of miles to be added to my 

itinerary of 1 1>979 



TWO EXCURSIONS IN THE FALL OF 1869.* 

St. Louis University, March 2, 1870. 

I have learned that my letter of July 31st escaped the 
shipwreck of the Germania on the French coast, since the 
mails were saved. I spoke to you of the excessive heat of 
our months of July and August; I have suffered a great 
deal, by reason of the sudden transition from a moderate 
and cool climate to one warm and exhausting. In autumn, 
the heat abates and so health and strength have come back 
to me little by little. I have therefore been allowed to 

2 From the French of the third Belgian edition, volume VI. 



928 LAST VISIT TO HIS FIRST CHILDREN. 

make two good excursions, one of 400 leagues, coming and 
going, and the other of 200. The occasion was as follows : 

Our missionaries in the Rocky Mountains' had urged me 
to obtain them some religious ladies for the education of 
young girls in Montana, and to take care, later, of orphans 
and the sick. With the design of commencing this first 
Catholic establishment or boarding-school, the Fathers of- 
fered their own house, situated in Helena, the capital of 
the Territory. With my superiors' consent, I went to work 
without delay, in view of the approach of winter and the 
great distance to be traveled. I obtained a colony of Sis- 
ters of Charity, chosen among sixty-six nuns. I accom- 
panied them to Omaha, in Nebraska. Well recommended, 
they took their places upon the Pacific railroad, to go 1,100 
miles and then take stage from Corinne, in the Territory 
of Utah; a six-horse stage, which makes the 500 miles to 
Helena in thirty-six hours. I have since learned, from 
private letters and the public prints, that the good sisters 
reached their destination, amid the acclamations of the 
citizens without regard to creed. Deo gratias! By this 
time their first establishment is in full activity. It is to be 
hoped that each year other religious houses may arise, ac- 
cording to the needs of two vast regions of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, the Territories of Idaho and Montana. 

A short time ago, I tried to undertake a second journey, 
or a visit among the Potawatomi Indians, in the State of 
Kansas. 

We have two schools there, with about 300 pupils. The 
boys are under the care of our Fathers and the girls in 
charge of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart. These two 
establishments are self-supporting and prosperous. The 
pupils are giving entire satisfaction to their teachers, and 
their zeal, piety and application are exemplary. 

I felt a strong desire to see the Potawatomies once more, 
especially at a moment very critical and important to them. 
It was among them that I commenced my missionary career. 



STATE OF THE POTAWATOMIES. 929 

They are my first children in Jesus Christ, and everything 
that concerns them interests me greatly. I have baptized 
several hundreds of these dear neophytes. At present the 
Indians are menaced by great dangers. I will tell you 
all about this, without the least concealment, that you 
may see the difficulties in which these good savages are in- 
volved at this time. 

The State of Kansas was admitted to the Union Janu- 
ary 29, 1 86 1. Its fertile lands and its central position, be- 
tween the east and the west of America, attracted a great 
number of immigrants. It has already more than 400,000 
inhabitants, and over 400 towns and villages are in active 
construction and on the highway to prosperity. The Mis- 
sions of St. Francis Hieronymo and St. Mary among the 
Potawatomies have become two cities; one bears the name 
of the mission, the other is called St. Marysville. Houses 
spring up as if by enchantment, and everybody exclaims 
" How lovely ! how wonderful ! " But here is the sad re- 
verse of the medal. 

I will speak only of the Potawatomies, whom I have 
lately visited, and who are divided into two classes, those 
who are civilized and those who are not. 

The civilized Potawatomies, that is, those of the Indians 
who are in submission to the American Government, form 
the majority of this people. They are at the present mo- 
ment passing through a most critical, but not unforeseen, 
trial. They have recently received from the Government, 
with the full ownership of their allotments of land or their 
farms, a sum of $500 per capita, something over 2,500 
francs. This was the signal for the arrival of a horde of 
white men, who swooped down like vultures on these sav- 
ages, and made unheard-of-efforts to ruin and destroy those 
innocent creatures, once so happy. Drink, the abominable 
whisky, was brought in abundance to St. Mary's and among 
all the neighboring peoples, who had also received money 
payments from the Government. A great many sad sud- 
59 



930 PERILS OF CIVILIZATION. 

den deaths took place, mournful consequences of the ex- 
cesses occasioned by debauches. The missionaries suc- 
ceeded, not without great trouble, in arresting the terrible 
scourge, destroyer of all civilization, which was being in- 
troduced in a Satanic manner among their neophytes. 

Despite all the efforts made by those tools of hell, the 
whites, to brutalize the Indians, the missionaries have not 
been without consolation. The greater number of the 
Potawatomies remained faithful during the trial, and edi- 
fied the priests by their piety and love of work. Those who 
momentarily abandoned themselves to the sad excesses of 
drink were not shaken in the faith, and arose directly from 
their fall. They have all escaped the abyss into which our 
civilizers sought to cast them. Besides, experience is there, 
to teach the savages that their purses become swiftly empty 
in these orgies; and as their money disappears, reason 
gradually resumes its empire in the heart of the duped 
Indian. Our missionaries therefore hold their ground and 
are not discouraged; they even redouble their zeal and ar- 
dor to arrest the evil and the offenses which divine good- 
ness receives from its children. The Indians are always 
dear to our good priests' hearts, and their apostolic labors 
continue to bear consoling fruits of salvation. 

Still we must own that the missionary's position among 
the Potawatomies is more difficult to-day than formerly. 
He must struggle against all sorts of obstacles: against 
whisky, with which the whites wish to slay his neophytes; 
against erroneous doctrines, w^hich false pastors sow with 
both hands ; against race prejudices, the more revolting that 
they come from our brethren in the faith, weak Catholics, 
who are Catholics in name only and who are coming over 
from Europe by shiploads. The priest who takes to heart 
the interests of the wretch who is groaning under the op- 
pression of the vices which the Author of our salvation 
condemns, is often opposed in his action by the very ones 
who ought to recognize and support his zeal and charity. 



GENERAL INVASION OF WHITES. 93! 

The noncivilized Potawatomies, or those of the independ- 
ent Indians who have not divided their lands, and who have 
shut their ears to the missionaries' advice, are far from 
being in a flourishing condition. There are about 500 of 
them. They are called the Prairie Indians. They live in 
common on a small reservation, surrounded by bad white 
men, who molest them without ceasing in every way and 
apply every art to pervert them. What is there for them to 
do? They ought to be taken south; but they absolutely re- 
fuse to emigrate, fearing that they could not endure the hot 
weather. If they were to try to go to the great plains of 
the northwest, the Sioux, Cheyennes, and other warlike 
tribes would dispute their passage. The future of these un- 
happy creatures is therefore very gloomy. 

I speak of the Potawatomies. The same thing is true of 
a great number of other tribes, which inhabit or have for- 
merly inhabited Kansas. One may well ask, what will 
become of these poor people ? Alas ! they are going, by 
small bands, by families; they are losing their nationality, 
disappearing insensibly, and finally they are blotted off 
the map. 

Our Indian missions, namely, St. Francis Hieronymo 
among the Osages, St. Marysville among the Potawatomies, 
St. Mary's among the Flatheads, St. Ignatius among the 
Pend d'Oreilles and Kootenais, the Sacred Heart of Jesus 
among the Cceur d'Alenes and Spokans, and St. Anne at 
Colville, among the Skoyelpis and scattered tribes of the 
Columbia river, as well as the numerous stations which our 
missionaries visit, are at present very much invaded by the 
whites. Everywhere these sorry adventurers make use of 
all iniquitous means to get rid of the Indians or force them 
to move. 

If the missionaries are to effect real good among the sav- 
ages, under the present circumstances, they will need a pro- 
found humility, a truly disinterested zeal, and above all a 
sovereign scorn for the judgments of men. 



932 LAST VOYAGE TO INDIAN COUNTRY. 

1870. 

September 14, 1870. 
Dear Doctor: 

A short notice of my visit and missionary excursion 
among the Indian tribes of the upper Missouri river, in the 
course of last summer (June, July and August) may be 
acceptable to you. Notwithstanding the excessive heat and 
the fatigues of our long journey, we have had the consola- 
tion of gathering some spiritual fruit. On this occasion 
I had for companion the Reverend Father Pauken, a fervent 
and zealous laborer, filled with the spirit of his holy voca- 
tion. In every locality the Indians received us with marked 
tokens of joy and kindness and paid great attention to our 
religious instructions and advices, in regard to their actual 
position with Government. They occupy extensive " reser- 
vations " of land, they are clothed and fed and receive their 
weekly allowances, consisting of sugar, coffee, flour, corn, 
pork and fresh meat, and with this timely assistance they 
are kept from misery and starvation, for the buffalo, here- 
tofore their daily bread, and other great animals are fast 
disappearing from their hunting grounds. 

The Indians, everywhere, asked earnestly for mission- 
aries. It is to be hoped that this ardent desire on their 
part may be accomplished and that early next spring, a 
permanent mission may be opened in their midst. 

The nation of the Dacotahs or Sioux is divided in a great 
number of tribes with distinctive names who form a total 
number variously estimated at from 50,000 to 80,000 souls, 
roving over a far-extended wilderness. It is the most 
numerous nation in the United States. In our last^ mis- 
sionary excursion, we have visited from 15,000 to 20,000 
Sioux Indians. The number of baptisms of adults and chil- 
dren amount to 434. 

3 This word has a significance here which Father De Smet did not 
intend. The expedition of 1870 was the last of his many journeys into 
the Indian country. 



PART yiL 

THE INDIANS. 

Their manners and customs, traditions, religious notions, and rela- 
tions to the whites. Except where otherwise noted the letters have not 
been published. 

CHAPTER I. 

RELIGIOUS OPINIONS OF THE ASSINIBOINS.^ 

Need of more missionaries — Letter from Crazy Bear — The Great 
Spirit— Sacrifices — The spring Medicine Lodge — Dances — The 
Sun — Bears — Ghosts and the dead — Future existence— Murder and 
revenge — Theft — Adultery — Oaths — Thunder birds. 

Cincinnati, College of St. Xavier, July i6, 1854. 
Reverend and Dear Father: 

tPtOCATIONS, alas! are still extremely rare; we must 
^ have ecclesiastics from Europe to go to the aid of the 
benighted Indians, who are without guide or pastor, and al- 
ways desirous and anxious for them. I annually receive 
letters and most pressing invitations from the chiefs of the 
Indian tribes on the Upper Missouri and among the Rocky 
Mountains. 

The following is a faithful translation of a letter I re- 
ceived from a great chief of the Assiniboins. They occupy 
the plains of the Yellowstone and of the Missouri: they 
number about 1,500 lodges and speak the Sioux language. 
My correspondent and petitioner is the great chief, " Crazy 
Bear." He was one of the deputation of chiefs who ac- 
companied me to the Great Council in 185 1 : 

1 Letters IX and X, Second Series, Western Missions and Mission- 
aries. Addressed to the editor of the Precis Historiques. Letters IX 
and X, Cinquante Nouvelles Letters. The English text is followed. 

[933] 



934 CRAZY BEAR S LETTER. 

" To the Medicine Man of the White Nation. 
"Black-robe, Father and Friend: 

" I was so happy as to become acquainted with you at 
Fort Union, in the summer of 1851 ; but I was then igno- 
rant, in a great degree, of the motives of your visit among 
us, and hence I could not discover to you my inmost feel- 
ings and explain to you my thoughts. At Fort Union you 
preached to us — telling us of the Great Spirit and his law. 
You said you would like to come and teach us, so as to 
ameliorate the mental and moral condition of our tribes. I 
think, also, that you gave us reason to expect that after two 
or three winters some Black-gowns would come and estab- 
lish themselves among us, in order to show us how to live 
well and how to train up our children. Afterward we 
traveled together as far as the I'latte. During that jour- 
ney and since my return from Fort Laramie I have learned 
and heard much of the beautiful word of the Great Spirit, 
which you first made known to us. Now I am persuaded 
that this word would change our state and render us happy. 
At the Great Council, our great Father (Colonel Mitchell, 
superintendent of Indian Territory) told us that some Black- 
gowns would come and live among us in the course of four 
or five years. Black-gown, five years are long to wait! 
In this long interval I and many of my children may have 
entered the land of spirits. Take pity on us ! The Black- 
gowns ought not to delay their coming so long. I am 
growing old : before I die I should like to begin the work, 
and then I could depart satisfied. My country is tranquil, 
we are at peace with all the surrounding tribes — our an- 
cient enemies, the Blackfeet, are the only ones we have to 
fear ; but we can protect you. All my nation call aloud for 
the Black-gown, and invite him to come with all speed : I 
sincerely hope that our expectation may not be deceived. 
We know that the Black-gowns devote themselves to the 
happiness and well-being of the Indians. If to hasten the 
project pecuniary aid be wanting, I will cheerfully give a 
portion of the annuities of my tribe to meet this deficiency. 



ANTI-CATHOLIC AGITATION. 935 

" I see the buffaloes decrease every year. What will be- 
come of us without help? If our children are not in- 
structed in time, they will disappear like the game. 

" I have learned that the ' Long Knives ' (the Americans) 
have bought the lands of the Chipeways, Sioux and Win- 
nebagoes, as far as Red river, and of the Pawnees, Omahas 
and Otoes on the Missouri. The whites are approaching 
us on the north and on the west, which is a new motive for 
hastening the arrival of the Black-robe among us. 

" I hope my words will reach you, and that you will think 
of us and our destitute situation. Do this, Black-robe, at 
the request of your friend, 

" THE BEAR,2 Chief of the Assinihoins" 

At this time thousands of whites are settling in the In- 
dian Territory from the Kansas to the Niobrara, and two 
large Territories have been erected by Congress, called Kan- 
sas^ and Nebraska. It is not yet known what arrangements 
will be taken for the protection of the different aboriginal 
nations that are found in them ; it is much feared that they 
will be exiled farther into the western wilds. You can see 
what I said in my second letter, in January, 1852. 

The sect of Mormons is making extraordinary progress 
in the United States. I will endeavor to send you some new 
and original details on them, which I am now preparing. 

The agitation and prejudices against our holy religion are 
so great here just now that Catholic papers from Europe 
can scarcely reach us. We are on the eve of great difficul- 
ties. The anti-Catholic spirit increases daily. All the ene- 
mies of our holy religion are leagued against her. As in 
all persecutions, they seek to excite the masses by atrocious 
lies and calumnies. Within the last few days three Catholic 
churches have been destroyed, and every paper speaks of 
some new exhibition in some part or other. European dem- 
agogues labor with all their might to establish on the Ameri- 
can soil their maxims of intolerance and persecution. Of all 
tyrants, they are the most terrible and fearful. 
2 See note, p. 510. 



936 IDEAS OF THE GREAT SPIRIT. 

Cincinnati, College of St. Francis Xavier, 
July 28, 1854. 
Reverend and Dear Father: 

In my last letter, dated the i6th of this month, when 
sending you the translation of the address of Crazy Bear, 
the great Assiniboin chief, I promised you a sketch of the 
religious and superstitious opinions of that nation. I will 
now fulfill my promise. 

I here propose acquainting you with the religious worship 
and moral code of the Assiniboins : it may be considered as 
the type of the superstitious creed of the greater portion of 
the barbarous tribes which roam over the forests and 
prairies of the upper Missouri. 

Shrouded in idolatrous darkness, these people have no 
clear idea of their origin or end. Upon the momentous 
questions, "Whence came I?" and "What is my future 
destiny? " there are various conjectures, even among those 
nations who have received even a feeble light concerning the 
eternal verities of the gospel. All the Indians admit the 
existence of the Great Spirit, viz., of a Supreme Being who 
governs all the important affairs of life, and who manifests 
his action in the most ordinary events. They have no cor- 
rect notion of the immutability of God. They think they 
can obtain his favors in the accomplishment of their projects, 
whatever be their nature, by presents, corporeal macerations, 
penances, fasts, etc. Thus every spring, at the first peal of 
thunder, which they call the voice of the Great Spirit, speak- 
ing from the clouds, the Assiniboins offer it sacrifices; — 
some burn tobacco, and present to the Great Spirit the most 
exquisite pieces of buffalo meat, by casting them into the 
fire ; while others make deep incisions in the fleshy parts of 
their bodies, and even cut off the first joints of their fingers, 
to offer them in sacrifice. Thunder, next to the sun, is their 
Great Wah-kon. They hear it, and after a storm they 
sometimes perceive the effects of the lightning on the trees, 
on their horses and on man ; hence it is an object of dread, 
and they endeavor to appease it. 



THE SPRING MEDICINE LODGE. 937 

It is rare that, during the course of a year, a family is not 
visited by some calamity ; — disease ; death, either natural 
or at the hands of their foes ; the loss of their horses, their 
richest treasure, by robbery; finally, the scarcity of game, 
which condemns them to rigorous fasts and sometimes even 
to famine. At the least misfortune the father of a family 
presents the calumet to the Great Spirit, and, in prayer, im- 
plores him to take pity on him, his v^nves and children. He 
promises to give him a part of all he possesses at the first 
peal of thunder in the spring. When it is practicable, the 
various camps collect as soon as winter is over, to offer their 
gifts and sacrifices in union. This is the religious ceremony 
par excellence. The Assiniboins attach the highest import- 
ance to it. They often speak of it in the course of the year, 
and look forward to its immediate arrival with joy, respect 
and veneration. Sometimes three or four hundred lodges or 
families assemble in one locality. One sole individual is 
named the high priest, and directs all the ceremonies of the 
festival. A species of hall is constructed, with about thirty 
lodges, of skins of the buffalo. Each lodge is composed of 
twenty or twenty-four skins, stretched over a number of 
posts, seven or eight feet high. On the top of these posts 
several hundred poles are fastened, and on these each 
family hangs the articles that it intends to offer in sacrifice. 
These consist of skins of animals, richly embroidered with 
porcelain or glass beads, adorned with feathers of every 
hue; many-colored collars, clothes and ornaments of all 
kinds, making a rich and varied great Indian exhibition. 
Opposite to this hall, which is called the Great Medicine 
Lodge, they raise a high pole, to which all the chiefs and 
braves hang their medicine bags, containing the idols, their 
arrows, quivers, trophies won from their enemies, especially 
scalps. This pole is a tree, stripped of its bark and thirty 
or forty feet high. Men, women and children, in a spirit 
of religion, join in raising and planting it, amid the accla- 
mations of the tribe. 

After these preliminaries, the ceremony begins with a 



938 DANCES, MAGIC AND FEASTS. 

harangue and a prayer to the Great Spirit by the high 
priest. He implores him to accept their gifts, to take pity 
on them, protect them against sickness, accidents and mis- 
fortunes of all kinds, and to give them a plenteous hunt, 
plenty of bison, stag, deer, bighorns, wild-goat, etc., and to 
aid them in their wars and excursions against their enemies. 
Then he offers the calumet to the Great Spirit, to the sun, 
to each of the four cardinal points, to the water and the 
land, with words analogous to the benefits which they obtain 
from each. The sacred calumet is then passed to all the 
chiefs and warriors, who draw two or three whiffs of smoke, 
^v'hich each puffs out toward heaven, at the same time elevat- 
ing the pipe. The day finishes with the great " medicine 
dance," and a variety of dances in honor of the animals 
which I have named. In these last they try to imitate, as 
much as possible, the cries and movements of those animals. 
Men alone perform this dance. 

The second day is devoted to representations; that is, the 
jugglers, or medicine men, perform their tricks. Some of 
these men succeed in imposing on these simple and credu- 
lous souls, who discover the supernatural in everything that 
they do not understand : this is great or little Wah-kon, as it 
is more or less incomprehensible. Most of these representa- 
tions are mere feats of legerdemain, which would scarcely 
excite a smile of mirth or the least astonishment in a circle 
of civilized persons. During their execution the men and 
women accompany the jugglers in a kind of chant, which 
consists of words analogous to the feast, but it is difficult 
to define what they say, amid their modulations of tone. 

The third day is consumed in dances and banquets, in 
which all can participate. It is highly amusing to witness 
this spectacle. Among the meats, dogs are particularly 
numerous — little and big, roasted and boiled, whole or en 
appalas; these form the principal viands of the great re- 
ligious banquet. Dishes of other meats, with roots, corn, 
wheat, sugar, etc., are added. All the pots and kettles of 
the whole tribe, of every form and dimension, are placed 



HONORS PAID THE SUN. 939 

over a long row of fires. The braves distribute these meats 
with admirable order, giving to each one his share. These 
portions disappear with truly wonderful celerity. 

The Assiniboins have two kinds of dances for this feast. 
Most of them dance some rounds for amusement, and leave 
the circle when they choose ; but a band of young men form 
the great religious dance, and make a vow to the thunder, or 
voice of the Great Spirit. Then they perform various 
dances, which last three whole days and nights, with only 
slight intervals, without their taking the least nourishment 
or refreshment, I have this from a credible eye-witness. 
This extraordinary act is penitential, or rather propitiatory, 
to obtain from the Great Spirit success in war. All the gar- 
ments and articles prepared during the winter, from the 
embroidered leggin and moccasin to the eagle-plumed head- 
piece, adorn their bodies for the first time, and the whole 
assembly appears quite brilliant; the camp acquires a new 
life. Those who are not at the moment occupied in the re- 
ligious observances spend their time in games and often very 
spirited conversation. The feast lasts about ten days. Be- 
fore separating, each person tears or cuts the article which 
he sacrificed, so that no one can be tempted to take posses- 
sion of it. This last act performed, the different companies 
separate to their own hunting grounds. 

They have some other religious practices and ceremonies, 
which I observed on my visit, and which are curious enough 
to be noticed here. 

The sun is honored and worshipped by the greater num- 
ber of the Indian tribes as the author of light and heat. 
The Assiniboins consider it likewise to be the favorite resi- 
dence of the Master of Life. They evidence a great respect 
and veneration for the sun, but rarely address it. On great 
occasions they offer it their prayers and supplications, but 
only in a low tone. Whenever they light the calumet, they 
offer the sun the first whiffs of its smoke. 

The Indians regard a solar eclipse as the forerunner of 
some great disaster; and if a juggler can ascertain from a 



940 OFFERINGS TO BEARS AND WOLVES. 

white man the period of the arrival of an eclipse, he is sure 
to make use of it to display his Wah-kon, or supernatural 
knowledge. At the moment of the eclipse the Indians rush 
out of their lodges, armed in full. They fire their guns, 
discharge their arrows in the air, and shout and howl, in 
order to frighten and put to flight the enemy of the Master 
of Life. Their pretended success is followed by great re- 
joicings. 

The bear is the terror of all American Indians, for he 
causes the most serious accidents, and is excessively danger- 
ous, if he be encountered in a thick forest. Every year some 
savage is killed or crippled in a fight with a bear. They 
address it prayers and invocations ; they offer it sacrifices of 
tobacco, belts and other esteemed objects ; they celebrate 
feasts in its honor, to obtain its favors and live without acci- 
dent. A bear's head is often preserved in the camp for 
several days, mounted in some suitable position, and 
adorned with scraps of scarlet cloth and trimmed with a va- 
riety of necklaces, collars and colored feathers. Then they 
offer it the calumet, and ask that they may be able to kill 
every bear they meet, without accident to themselves, in 
order to anoint themselves with his fine grease and make a 
banquet of his tender flesh. 

The wolf is also more or less honored among the Indians. 
Most of the women refuse to dress its skin, at any price. 
The only reason that I could discover for this freak is that 
the wolves sometimes get mad, bite those they meet and 
give them the hydrophobia. It is, doubtless, to escape this 
terrible disease and to avoid the destruction of their game, 
that the Indians make him presents and offer him supplica- 
tions and prayers. In other cases he is little feared. He 
seldom injures men, but is formidable to the animals, and 
makes great ravages among them, especially among bison 
calves, kids, deer, antelopes, hares, etc. 

The " little medicine-wolf " [coyote] is in great venera- 
tion among the Assiniboins. He ordinarily approaches the 
camp during the night. As soon as an Indian hears his 



GHOSTS HONORS TO THE DEAD. 94I 

barks, he counts the number with care ; he remarks whether 
his voice is feeble or strong, and from what point of the 
compass it comes. These observations then become the sub- 
ject of discussion to the jugglers. What are the prognos- 
tics? Why, the " little medicine-wolf " announces to them 
that on the morrow they may expect a visit from a friend 
or from an enemy, or perhaps a herd of buffalo. The In- 
dians frequently regulate their movements or marches by 
these indications; and if, as occasionally happens, they re- 
sult according to the explanation of the barks, the little wolf 
is favored with the ceremony of a grand feast ! 

The belief in ghosts is very profound, and common in all 
these tribes. Indians have often told me, seriously, that 
they had met, seen and conversed with them, and that they 
may be heard almost every night in the places where the 
dead are interred. They say they speak in a kind of whis- 
tling tone. Sometimes they contract the face like a person 
in an epileptic fit. Nothing but the hope of gain could ever 
induce an Indian to go alone in a burying-ground at night. 
In such a case, love of gain might triumph over the fear of 
ghosts; but an Indian woman would never be induced, on 
any condition, to enter one. 

The Assiniboins esteem greatly a religious custom of as- 
sembling once or twice in the year around the tombs of their 
immediate relatives. These sepulchres are raised on a spe- 
cies of scaffold, about seven or eight feet above the surface 
of the soil. The Indians call the dead by their names, and 
offer them meats carefully dressed, which they place beside 
them. They take care, however, to consume the best pieces 
themselves, — after the custom of the priests of the idols 
of old, who offered their false gods the heart, blood, entrails 
and indigestible parts, reserving to themselves the most deli- 
cate portions of the victim. The ceremony of burying the 
dead, among the Indians, is terminated by the tears, wail- 
ings, bowlings and macerations of all present. They tear 
the hair, gash their legs, and at last the calumet is lighted, 
for this is the Alpha and Omega of every rite. They offer 



942 MEDICINE AND FUTURE LIFE. 

it to the shades of the departed and entreat them not to 
injure the living. During their ceremonious repasts, in their 
excursions, and even at a great distance from their tombs, 
they send to the dead puffs of tobacco-smoke and burn Httle 
pieces of meat as a sacrifice in their memory. 

The reHgious worship of the Assiniboins embraces a great 
variety of practices too lengthy to recount — they all bear 
the same characteristics. I will add, however, one remark- 
able point. Each savage who considers himself a chief or 
warrior, possesses what he calls his Wah-kon, in which he 
appears to place all his confidence. This consists of a stuffed 
bird, a weasel's skin, or some little bone or the tooth of an 
animal ; sometimes it is a little stone, or a fantastical figure, 
represented by little beads or by a coarsely painted picture. 
These charms or talismans accompany them on all their 
expeditions, for war or hunting — they never lay them aside. 
In every difficulty or peril they invoke the protection and 
assistance of their Wah-kon, as though these idols could 
really preserve them from all misfortunes. If any accident 
befalls an idol or charm, if it is broken or lost, it is enough 
to arrest the most intrepid chief or warrior in his expedition, 
and make him abandon the most important enterprise in 
which he may be engaged. It is true that they have a con- 
viction that all assistance should come from the Great Spirit ; 
but as they can neither see nor touch him, they invoke him 
through their favorite tutelary idols. If it happen (though 
the case is very rare) that an individual should profess not 
to believe in any kind of Wah-kon, he is regarded among 
the Indians very much as an infidel or an atheist would be 
in a Catholic country. They point at him and avoid him. 
In regard to the future state, they believe that the souls of 
the dead migrate toward the south, where the climate is mild, 
the game abundant and the rivers well stocked with fish. 
Their hell is the reverse of this picture; its unfortunate in-k 
mates dwell in perpetual snow^ and ice, and in the complete 
deprivation of all things. There are, however, many among 
them who think death is the cessation of life and action, and 



MURDER, THEFT AND ADULTERY. 943 

that there is naught beyond it. As they feel uncertain 
which is true, they seem to attach no great importance to 
either. They seldom speak of it ; they manifest their views 
to those whites who inquire of them, and in whom they feel 
confidence. 

The moral principles of the Assiniboins are few in number. 
Their opinions concerning good and evil have little pre- 
cision. Social position is respected among them to a certain 
degree. Fear, on almost every occasion, governs and de- 
termines the conduct of the Indian. If he has any ground 
to suspect that another intends to take his life, he seizes the 
earliest opportunity of killing that person, provided he can 
do so without endangering his own life. This case is not 
looked upon as murder, but as a justifiable self-defense. 
The crime of murder, properly so called, is not known 
among them. They never kill, except in quarrels, to avenge 
or to defend themselves, and custom with them justifies the 
act. To behave otherwise, according to their received views, 
would be regarded as an act of folly. 

Theft, among the Assiniboins, is only considered dis- 
graceful when it is discovered ; then shame and infamy are 
attached rather to the awkwardness of the thief for having 
taken his measures so ill. The old women are acknowledged 
the most adroit thieves in the country; nevertheless, it is 
only just to add that the men seldom omit stealing any 
object, if it can prove useful to them. 

Adultery is punished with death in almost every case. 
The seducer seldom escapes, if the husband and his family 
have the power and the courage to execute this law. Hence 
this crime is rather uncommon. The woman is sometimes 
killed, but always severely punished. The husband causes 
her head to be closely shaved, and her person painted over 
with a heavy coat of vermilion mixed with bear's grease; 
she is then mounted on a horse, the mane and tail of which 
have been cut off, and the whole body also daubed with ver- 
milion ; an old man conducts her all around the camp and 
proclaims aloud her infidelity ; at last he commits her to the 



944 LYING AND PERJURY. 

hands of her own relatives, who receive the culprit with a 
good beating. A woman cannot be subjected to a more 
degrading punishment. 

An Assiniboin has no scruple in lying, when he can obtain 
any advantage from it : he rarely tells falsehoods in jest. In 
regard to theft, falsehood and adultery, the Assiniboins dif- 
fer from the Indians near the Rocky Mountains, especially 
the Flatheads and the Pend d'Oreilles, who detest these 
vices. It may be observed that the Assiniboins have been in 
relations with the whites for many years. 

False oaths are very rare among the Indians, when their 
promises are assumed with any solemnity. The objects by 
which the Assiniboin swears are his gun, the skin of the 
rattlesnake, a bear's claw, and the Wah-kon of the Indian 
interrogated. These various articles are placed before him, 
and he says, " In case my declaration prove false, may my 
gun fire and kill me, may the serpent bite me, may the bears 
tear and devour my flesh, may my Wah-kon overwhelm me 
with misery." A circumstance in which perjury could save 
his life, is the only one in which a savage would be tempted 
to commit it. In extraordinary and very important affairs, 
which demand formal promises, they call upon the thunder 
to witness their resolution of accomplishing the articles pro- 
posed and accepted. The whole vocabulary of the Assini- 
boin and Sioux language contains but one single word which 
can be considered insulting or as blasphemous. This word 
expresses the wish that the person or thing in question may 
become ugly, as we would say in French " Le Monstre," or 
in Flemish " Gy leelyke beest." The name of the Great 
Spirit is never pronounced in vain, but always with highest 
marks of veneration. In this respect the language of the 
poor Indian is more noble than the more polished tongues of 
many civilized nations, where there are ever on the swearer's 
lips curses and blasphemies, and where men mingle in all 
their conversation the name of the Almighty! Such an 
individual would not only excite horror in the Indian, but 
would even excite his terror. 



THUNDER BIRDS AND DREAMS. 945 

The Sioux, or Dakotas, of whom the Assiniboins are a 
branch, pretend that thunder is an enormous bird, and that 
the muffled sound of the distant thunder is caused by a 
countless number of young birds! The great bird, they 
say, gives the first sound, and the young ones repeat it : this 
is the cause of the reverberations. The Sioux declare that 
the young thunders do all the mischief, like giddy youth, 
who will not listen to good advice; but the old thunder, or 
big bird, is wise and excellent, he never kills or injures any 
one! 

The Assiniboins dread vampires and bats. Should these 
fly near a man, it is an omen of evil. The Will-with-a-wisp 
is also a great terror to them. The man who sees one dur- 
ing the night is certain that death is about to carry away 
some cherished member of his family. 

They believe in dreams. According to them, good 
dreams come from a spirit that loves them and desires to 
give them good advice ; bad dreams, in particular the night- 
mare, render them sad and melancholy, and lead them to 
dread the arrival of painful events. 

Not a day passes in an Indian family without some one 
having seen or heard something that augurs evil. This 
always excites an anxiety; hence their superstitions become 
a kind of torment. 

I have the honor to be, etc. 

P. S. — I hope to send you in a few days some account of 
Indian hunts and especially of a great bison hunt made 
by the Assiniboins in a kind of inclosure or park. If pos- 
sible, I will add a sketch to enable you to understand what 
I try to describe. 

The thermometer stands here at 96° and even 102°. 
I am afraid my style shows it. The heat is so excessive 
that several persons have fallen dead in the streets. 

I hope you have received my itinerary, my letter on our 
shipwreck on the Humboldt, and the address sent me by 
Crazy Bear, the Assiniboin chief. Please acknowledge re- 
ceipt of my letters. 
60 



CHAPTER II. 

NOTES ON THE BLACKFEET. 

Religion in the wilderness — Savagery of the Blackfeet — Hopes for 
them — Dismal outlook for the buffalo tribes — Subdivisions of the 
Blackfeet — Piegans learning their prayers — Inequality of sexes — 
Superstitions in regard to Black-robes — Horse-stealing — Improve- 
ment in baptized wives. 

Fort Lewis, Sept. 2'], 1846. 

Reverend and very dear Father in Jesus Christ:^ 

*V^ HAVE been at Fort Lewis three days, and am resting 
" 3. little from my long and roundabout horseback ride 
from St. Francis Xavier of the Willamette to this place; 
in the course of which I had to visit our three mountain 
Reductions and the Flathead camp on the Yellowstone. If 
my stay here is very helpful to me, it is not less so to the 
occupants of the fort, who are for the most part Catholics. 
I have so arranged my time as to be able to talk with them 
all successively of the truths of our holy religion; to urge 
and encourage them to discharge the duties that it pre- 
scribes. These poor Canadians and French Creoles often 
remain ten, twelve or fifteen years in the desert, without 
priest, without instruction, exposed to the greatest dangers 
of body and soul. A great number of those whom I have 
known have found a tragic end there. 

To-day, Sunday, I have offered the holy sacrifice of the 
mass, followed by an instruction upon the end of man. All 
the white men of the fort and a large number of Blackfeet 
were present. Tears of joy and of compunction flowed 
from the eyes of the Canadian, the Creole and the Spaniard, 

1 Letter XXV, Missions de I'Oregon here translated for the first 
time. 

[946] 



BLACKFEET PURE SAVAGES. 947 

at the recollection no doubt of the innocent and happy days 
of their childhood, when the pious hand of a mother led 
them to the foot of the altar, and when later they practiced 
regularly their religious duties. 

They made good and pious resolutions on this occasion, 
and the emotion that they showed during the divine service 
gave evidence that the germ of faith, so long sterile at the 
bottom of their hearts, would blossom and bring forth fruits 
of salvation there by the practice of the Christian virtues. 
Toward evening, I baptized thirty children with all the cere- 
monies of the ritual. 

From all that I have seen and heard of the Blackfeet, 
during the five weeks I have spent among them, I am firmly 
convinced that a mission to this tribe would produce results 
very fortunate and very consoling for the religion. It is 
assuredly a task full of difficulties and obstacles, requiring 
the zeal and courage of an apostle; one must be prepared 
for a life of crosses, privation and patience ; they are savages 
in the full meaning of the word, accustomed to wreak ven- 
geance on their enemies and wallow in blood and carnage. 
They are plunged in coarse superstitions which brutalize 
their souls ; they worship the sun and moon and offer them 
sacrifices of propitiation and thanksgiving. Now they cut 
deep gashes in their bodies and catch the blood; now they 
strike off joints of their fingers and present them to their 
divinities, crying: " I do thee this favor, Apistotokio (God, 
Spirit), I give thee my blood; do me also a favor on the 
war-path, and when I come again I will worship thee with 
scalps that I take from my enemies." 

Despite their cruelties and abominable superstitions, a 
bright light is beginning, it would seem, to dispel the sha- 
dows under which these poor pagans have lived for so 
many ages.^ * * * During the five weeks that I stayed 
among them, they were as assiduous and attentive as pos- 
sible to the instructions I gave them, and seemed to listen 
with pleasure to the consoling truths of the gospel. 
2 Omitted portion is a letter of Father Point's. 



948 THE FUTURE OF THE TRIBES, 

Permit me, Reverend Father, to express to you my un- 
easiness as to the probable future lot of these unhappy 
tribes; it is becoming more alarming day by day. What 
future awaits them ? The plains where the buffalo graze are 
becoming more and more of a desert, and at every season's 
hunt the different Indian tribes find themselves closer to- 
gether. It is probable that the plains of the Yellowstone 
and Missouri and as far as the forks of the Saskatchewan, 
occupied to-day by the Blackfeet, will be within the next 
dozen years the last retreat of the buffalo. Will there be 
enough of these wild animals to feed the hundred thousand 
Indians of this region? The Crees, the Assiniboins, the 
Snakes, the Bannocks, the Crows, the Blackfeet, the Ari- 
caras and the Sioux are drawing nearer to these plains each 
year; whenever they meet, it is war to the death. These 
meetings must naturally become more frequent, and it is 
to be feared that the last of the buffalo may be disputed in 
a last fight between the unfortunate remnants of these un- 
happy tribes. What can be done to prevent such great mis- 
fortunes? A sincere and effective protection on the part 
of the United States Government against everything that 
could be harmful to the natives, would be required. Very 
severe laws have been enacted against those who supply 
the Indians with liquor ; it is to be hoped that they may be 
firmly executed ; it is a great step in favor of the savages. 
Let those who have the power and the means look to it in 
time. Let some efforts be made to rescue them from the 
threatened destruction, lest, by guilty negligence, the last 
drop of aboriginous blood indelibly stain the fair fame of 
the Government under whose protecting wing they are said 
to live. Justice makes the appeal. Oh! it would be the 
height of spiritual and temporal good fortune for these 
tribes, to grant them some zealous, fervent, courageous mis- 
sionaries ; they would teach them to know and to serve God, 
while at the same time they would initiate them into the 
labors and the arts which would procure them necessary, 
useful and agreeable things. And their mortal hatred of 



THE BANDS OF THE BLACKFEET. 949 

the race which has never ceased thrusting them farther back 
and despoiling them, would change to feelings of gratitude 
and good will. 

In closing this letter, permit me, Reverend Father, to 
recommend to you in an especial manner the salvation of 
the Indians in your holy sacrifices, and believe me, with the 
profoundest respect and most sincere esteem, 



University of St. Louis, Oct. 28, 1855. 

Reverend and Dear Father:^ 

In some of my letters of 1846, I spoke of my visit to the 
Blackfeet. I sojourned among the four tribes, the Gros ven- 
tres, Piegans,* Bloods, and Blackfeet^ proper, about six 
weeks, and had the happiness of regenerating in the holy 
waters of baptism several hundred children and some 
adults. In the month of October, after having bid adieu to 
Father Point, who proposed passing the winter in the Indian 

3 Letter to F. Terwecoren, Editor Precis Historiqucs, published as 
Letter of the Cinquante Nouvelles Lettres and translated thence as 

Letter XVIII, Western Missions and Missionaries. The latter text is 
here followed. 

■* The tribe of the Piegans forms a portion of the six tribes known 
by the generic name of Blackfeet. The other five are the Blackfeet, 
properly so called, the Men of Blood, the Sarcees, the Little Robes, 
and the Grosventres. — Note by Father De Smet. 

5 The Blackfeet are divided into five principal tribes (about 16,000 
souls) — the Piegans, the Bloods, the Blackfeet Direct, the Sarcees 
and the Grosventres of the Plains. The Sarcees and Grosventres 
speak a distinct language, entirely different from that of the other 
three Blackfoot tribes. The Sarcees tell that their ancestors only 
came to the plains after having wandered for a long time upon an 
immense lake, at the mercy of the winds and floods. The Gros- 
ventres speak the same language as the Arapahos, who live on the 
south fork of the Platte and of [?] the Arkansas river, 1,200 miles 
from the plains where they dwell to-day, and whither their ancestors 
withdrew in consequence of a quarrel. — Note by Father Point. 



950 FATHER POINT AT WORK. 

camps, in order to sound further their dispositions in a re- 
ligious point of view, I left the country of the Blackfeet in 
order to repair to St. Louis, where the affairs of the missions 
were awaiting me. During the residence of Father Point 
among those Indian populations, he collected many interest- 
ing traits concerning the character and manners of the sav- 
ages ; he had the kindness to communicate them to me. I 
sent a copy of his relation to our superiors in Europe ; but I 
do not think it has ever been published. In the hope that it 
will afford you pleasure, and that it will prove worthy of 
your attention, I transmit to you some of the principal ex- 
tracts. In 1847, Father Point wrote me: 

" I think I can say, to the glory of the only Author of all 
Good, that with his grace I have not lost my time among 
the Blackfeet. I have performed 667 baptisms, the records 
of which are in due form ; I have taken notes of whatso- 
ever appeared to me suitable for interesting the curious or 
edifying the pious. During the winter I was accustomed, 
daily, to give three instructions, or catechetical lessons, pro- 
portioned to the three very different classes of my auditors. 
It is unnecessary for me to say that the prayers have all 
been translated into Blackfoot, and learned in Fort Lewis 
and in the camp of the Piegans, and there is scarcely any 
camp among the Blackfeet in which the sign of the cross 
is not held in veneration, and even practiced, at least among 
those individuals who have had any intercourse with the 
missionary. 

" Of the twenty-five or thirty camp-leaders, or chiefs, 
who visited me or whom I have visited, there is not one who 
has not given me ideas of his people or tribe less disad- 
vantageous than those generally entertained, and of course 
among the whites who inhabit the Indian Territory as else- 
where. Among the different camps, there is a species of 
emulation as to which shall have the Black-robe, or rather 
the mission, on its lands. Concerning this article I have 
decided nothing. I have only said that in case a Reduc- 
tion were formed, it would be built in the position or local- 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BANDS. 95 1 

ity which would afford the greatest advantages to all the 
tribes, taken collectively. All found this idea reasonable, 
and have promised that they would exert their utmost en- 
deavors to satisfy the Black-robes. 

" The Grosventres of the Plains appear to me to have the 
advantage over the others, in being more adroit, docile and 
courageous; but they are more strongly attached to their 
old superstitions, and are terrible demandenrs, as the Can- 
adian employees here call shameless beggars : happily, they 
are not offended when refused. The Piegans are the most 
civilized, but the most noted thieves. The Gens du Sang 
are well made, of fine blood, and generally less dirty. It is 
said that the Blackfeet proper are the most hospitable. 

" Such are the most striking traits of these four nations, 
so long at war with almost all their neighbors, and some- 
times among themselves, at least partially. Since they have 
had the proof that the true prayer renders man more valiant, 
happier, and generally tends to make him live longer (three 
advantages which they exalt above all others, and which 
they believe they perceive united in the Flatheads), the 
medicine-sack, or idolatry, with many, is falling into 
discredit. 

" Several traits of divine justice, against those who have 
shown themselves less docile in following our counsels, and, 
on the contrary, several striking evidences of protection, in 
favor of those who followed them, have contributed greatly 
to work an admirable change in their ideas. By that, I do 
not mean to pronounce them saints : no ; theft and assassi- 
nation are not yet, in the eyes of the young particularly, 
destitute of attractions. For this reason, notwithstanding 
the peace concluded with the Flatheads, and the inclination 
of the great men to maintain it, there were many depreda- 
tions committed during the winter, to the detriment of the 
latter. But let it be said to the praise of the chiefs, the 
whole was disapproved by them. Nine or ten thieves have 
received their deserts from the Pend d'Oreilles. This paci- 
fication, so desirable, under the double relation of humanity 



952 ALL WILLING TO BE BAPTIZED. 

and social commerce, is the condition, sine qua non, of the 
conversion of the greater part of those poor Indians, unless 
God is pleased to work a miracle, which rarely has hap- 
pened, except among the Flatheads. 

" I have been on a six weeks' hunt with the fifty lodges 
of the Piegans, which are under the command of the chief, 
Amakzikinne, or ' Big Lake.' This camp is one of the 
seven or eight fractions of the Piegan tribe, amounting in 
all to about 300 lodges. This tribe forms a part of the 
four, known under the generic title of Blackfeet. I have 
spoken of them already. The Piegans are the most civil- 
ized, on account of the relations of a portion of their people 
with the Flatheads. If the Grosventres were less impor- 
tunate, I would willingly entitle them the Flatheads of the 
Missouri. They have something of their simplicity and 
their bravery. They are improperly ranked among the 
Blackfeet : besides that they did not originate in the country, 
they do not speak their language, and are different in many 
respects. 

" However this may be, these four tribes may contain 
about 1,000 lodges or 10,000 souls. This is not half what 
they were, before the contagion of smallpox introduced 
among them by the whites. I believe that women constitute 
more than two-thirds of them, if not even three-quarters. 
This inequality, so baneful to morals, is the result of war. 
In the visit that I paid to the Grosventres, divided into two 
camps, I counted 230 lodges. I visited, or received visits 
from, several fractions or detachments of Blackfeet, and 
further, an entire camp of Gens du Sang; and all were in 
such dispositions, that only a word on my part would have 
been necessary to enable me to baptize, with their consent, 
all the children from the largest down to those of only a day 
old, which the mothers brought me of their own free will. 
I could have baptized a great number of adults ; they even 
seemed to desire it ardently ; but these desires were not yet 
sufficiently imbued with the true principles of religion. I 
could not content myself with the persuasion generally ex- 



BUT THEIR MOTIVES ARE WRONG. 953 

isting among the savages, that when they have received 
baptism they can conquer any enemy whatsoever. The 
courage and the happiness of the Flatheads have inspired 
them with this behef. This explains why some wretches, 
who seek only to kill their neighbors, were the first to peti- 
tion for baptism. 

"All say that they would be glad to have black-gowns ; but 
why do the greater part desire them? Because they think 
that all other imaginable blessings will come with them; 
not only courage to fight, but also every species of remedy 
to enable them to enjoy corporeal health. The Grosventres 
conducted to me a hump-backed person and a near-sighted 
person that I might heal them. I said that this kind of 
cures surpassed my abilities; which did not, however, 
hinder them from making other similar requests. But at 
last, by continually repeating to them, that the Black-robes 
can heal souls, but not always the body, some at last believe 
me. They believe also that we can excite diseases and 
cause the thunder to roll when we are not satisfied. Quite 
recently, there was an earthquake in the land of the Gros- 
ventres, and directly the report was spread abroad that I 
was the cause of the earth's trembling; and that this shock 
was an indication that the smallpox was about to return 
into the country, etc., and all this happened because the 
Indians did not give attention sufficient to the discourse of 
the Black-robe. There is at present a malady raging 
among the Piegans, said to be mortal, and which indeed has 
proved fatal to a few persons. As this disease begins in 
the ear, they consider themselves more justified than the 
Grosventres, in saying * that this punishment arrived to 
them on account of their hardness of heart,' in listening to 
the words of the Great Spirit. For myself, what appeared 
most striking was the sudden death of a dozen of persons, 
stricken down either in their lodges or in war, but at the 
moment that they were straying most widely from the right 
path. One of these, belonging to the Blackfeet, had robbed 
me of three mules ; he died on the morrow after his arrival 



954 ABOUT WIVES AND HORSE-STEALING. 

home, and after finding himself divested of his capture, 
which were conducted back to me. This death was certain 
to provoke the saying : ' Woe to him who robs the Black- 
robes ! ' Thus in one way or another Almighty God is pre- 
paring the way for the conversion of these poor idolaters. 

" To return to the Piegans, with whom I have lived 
about six weeks, I will observe that those who, among the 
savages, call themselves ' Great Men,' would be disposed to 
listen wholly to us, could we but make terms with them on 
the article of plurality of wives; that the youth, in their 
turn, would as cheerfully, if we could immediately make 
* Great Men ' of them ; but this being scarcely possible, all 
the reasonings of the wise can with difficulty induce them 
to refrain from robbery. If they can rob adroitly and in 
large value from the enemies of their nation, they never 
fail to do it; but if the theatre of their legitimate thefts is 
too remote, it is not rare to find them seeking among 
friendly tribes (for example, the Pend d'Oreilles or the 
Flatheads) what would prove too troublesome to seek else- 
where. A few days since, the three brothers of Big Lake, 
to one of whom the Flatheads have three times granted life, 
came with two good and handsome horses taken from the 
Pend d'Oreilles, who had just spared the lives of two of 
their youth. Already twice before, after similar misdeeds. 
Big Lake, notwithstanding my strong remonstrances, had 
not the courage to blame them. Among the Blackfeet, the 
rich people, who undertake to rebuke the wicked who pos- 
sess nothing, have naught to gain and all to lose. As there 
is neither lawful authority on one side nor conscience on 
the other, a second theft, or a musket-shot, is not rare. 

" In these thefts, however, there is one thing which ex- 
cuses, to a certain degree, the silence of the chief of whom I 
have just spoken ; it is the robbery of two horses to his 
detriment committed by a young Flathead ; but this prece- 
dent cannot certainly justify the reprisals; for, besides res- 
titution having been promised to him, he knew well that the 
thief in question was an outcast from his tribe; that he 



SAVAGES ESPY REAL HAPPINESS. 955 

ought not to imitate him; that he was only to follow the 
example of the good, who were all desirous of dwelling in 
peace with the Blackfeet, etc. But in vain we instruct them 
and refresh their memories, we discover that these reasons 
enter their minds with difficulty, and still less their hearts, 
which have neither the uprightness nor the generosity of 
their allies. Aside from these miseries, and some false 
maxims derived from the whites, the remainder, and even 
the very efforts of hell to resume a prey which is escaping 
her, all that is accomplishing at this moment in this country 
announces that the day of its regeneration is not remote. 
What most consoles us is that this regeneration, if things 
continue, will be due, in great measure, to the present 
exemplary conduct at the fort. 

" Every day after mass, I teach the children their pray- 
ers; every evening the men recall them to memory mutu- 
ally; at six o'clock in the evening these recite their prayers 
in common in my own room, after which I give them an m- 
struction ; then comes the turn of the women. Now, these 
women, baptized and lawfully married, or preparing for 
baptism and marriage, oblige their husbands to say (the 
latter having almost all approached the sacraments) : 
' What a change! what a difference! ' In fact, this differ- 
ence is so sensible, that it is obvious to all the savages who 
come in throngs to the fort, and do not return without 
coming to assure me, ' that they also wish to learn and fol- 
low the way to heaven, since it is only in that path and in 
heaven that real happiness is found.' What are their nar- 
rations when they return to their families? New visitors, 
better disposed than ever in regard to the fort and on the 
subject of prayer, easily make known. 

" I have yet one consoling piece of news to announce. 
On my route, traveling with the Piegan camp, I baptized 
fourteen little infants of the Crow nation, so well did I find 
them disposed — these were on their way to visit the Gros- 
ventres. They desire to see you among them again. In- 
dulging this hope, they will go to meet you in the spring. 



956 TRIBES BEGGING FOR PASTORS. 

At a distance, as when present, Reverend Father, I shall 
never cease to offer devout and heartfelt petitions for the 
success of an enterprise, to which it has pleased divine Prov- 
idence to associate me from its commencement. It will 
always be allowable for me to do by prayers, what I can- 
not effect by my works. 

*' I am, etc., 

" N. POINT, S. J." 

The project of going to these poor Indians has never been 
abandoned. Every returning spring they send pressing in- 
vitations to the Black-robes to come and establish them- 
selves among them, in order to be taught the way of the 
Lord. During the current year, we have received invita- 
tions from the Blackfeet, the Crows, the Assiniboins, the 
Sioux, Poncas, and Omahas, with many other tribes ; the 
number of these Indians surpasses 70,000. A great num- 
ber of infants and adults have received baptism. The vast 
wilderness that they occupy boasts not a single priest at 
this moment! For fifteen years they have been begging 
for pastors! 

Allow me. Reverend Father, to request the aid of your 
prayer and holy sacrifices, and deign to commend the poor 
Indians to the kind remembrance of the pious souls of your 
acquaintance, that the Lord may condescend to hear these 
unhappy men, and send good pastors into this widespread 
vineyard, so long neglected, but which promises such a 
glorious harvest. 

In union with your devout petitions and holy sacrifices, 
I have the honor to be, with the most profound respect and 
highest esteem. 

Your very devoted servant, etc. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE OREGON INDIANS. 

Fidelity and zeal of the Skalzi — Their territory — Agriculture — 
Loss of tools by burning of boat — Ideal Indians — Building a 
church — Father Menetrey — Chief Michael — Unregenerate dogs — A 
presbytery — How Father De Smet brought the fighting chiefs down to 
Fort Vancouver — The winter's work — Prejudices removed — Feeds 
and shelters the chiefs — Kamiakin's statement — His poverty — 
Gerry, Schloom and Telgawax — Sketch of Eastern Washington — 
Opinion as to reservations — Some other recommendations. 

St. Louis University, Dec. i, 1861. 
Dear Sir:^ 

♦IfN my letter of November 10, 1859, I alluded to the 
■■ Skalzi Indians. Allow me to add fuller details con- 
cerning that tribe. 

I visited these good savages for the first time in the 
summer of 1845, ^^ which occasion I had the happiness 
to regenerate all their little children in the holy waters of 
baptism, as well as a large number of adults. I saw these 
dear children again in 1859; and the visit filled me with 
inexpressible joy, because they had remained faithful, true 
to the faith, and fervent and zealous Christians. They 
were the consolation of their missionaries, and shone con- 
spicuous by their virtues among the tribes of the Rocky 
Mountains. They were especially distinguished by an 
admirable simplicity, a great charity, and a rare honesty 
in all their dealings with their neighbors, and an innocence 
of manners worthy of the primitive Christians. A short 
account of this interesting tribe and the country which they 
inhabit, will doubtless please you. 

The two tribes of the Kootenai s and the Flat-bows 
number over 1,000 souls. They are principally divided 

lUnaddressed letter, published in New Indian Sketches, pp. 104-117. 

[957] 



958 TERRITORY OF THE SKALZI. 

into two camps, and are known in their country under the 
name of Skalzi. One of these camps, numbering about 
300, inhabits sometimes the neighborhood of the great 
Flathead lake, and sometimes the great Tobacco Plain, 
which is watered by the Kootenai river; the distance is 
seventy miles. The Tobacco Plain is a remarkable spot, 
situated between the forty-ninth and fiftieth degrees of 
north latitude, and is the only great plain possessed by this 
camp. It it about fifty or sixty miles long by fifteen or 
twenty miles in width. It resembles a large basin, sur- 
rounded by lofty mountains, which form a vast and beauti- 
ful amphitheatre and present a picturesque sight. The 
plain has all the appearance of the dry bed of a vast lake. 
Toward the south the valley is gravelly, undulating and 
covered with little hillocks, and patches here and there are 
susceptible of cultivation ; the northern portion, on the con- 
trary, has a uniform surface and a considerable extent of 
excellent arable land. 

Though the land is very elevated, and far toward the 
north, the temperature is remarkably mild, severe cold 
being a rare occurrence, and the snow is seldom deep ; it 
falls frequently during the season, but disappears almost as 
it falls, absorbed, perhaps, by the rarefaction of the atmos- 
phere at this elevation, or perhaps driven off by the south- 
ern breeze, which blows almost uninterruptedly in the valley 
and drives the snow ofif as it falls. Horses and horned 
cattle find abundant pasture during the whole year. 

The large river, called indifferently the Kootenai, the 
McGillivray, and the Flat-bow river, flows through the en- 
tire valley. It rises to the northwest of this region, and its 
course is toward the southeast for a considerable distance. 
The waters of this great river are increased by a large 
number of brooks and beautiful rivulets, which have their 
source, for the most part, in the lovely lakes or numer- 
ous basins of these beautiful mountains. Many of these 
streams present to the eye the most charming scenes in their 
course. The noise of their waters and the sweet murmur 



NATIVE AND CULTIVATED CROPS. 959 

of their falls are heard at some distance, and the eye is 
charmed by their descent from height after height, and 
their succession of cascades, from which they escape to the 
plain, covered with foam, and, as it were, exhausted by the 
struggles of the way. These mountain torrents will some 
day be the sites of mills of every description. Coal exists 
in many portions of the country, lead is found in abundance, 
and I venture to say that more precious minerals repose in 
the bosom of the mountains, and will one day be brought to 
light there. 

The Indians have devoted themselves to agriculture for 
some years past. They cultivate little fields of maize, 
barley, oats and potatoes, all of which ripen. It is rare 
that the frost injures the crops before the season of harvest. 
Their small fields cannot be extended, owing to the want of 
instruments of agriculture. They are compelled to turn 
the earth with instruments of the most primitive construc- 
tion, such as Adam may have used in his day. The pointed 
stick made of a very hard wood is what they have used from 
ages immemorial to dig up the camas, the bitter-root, the 
zvappatoo (sagittafolia), the caious, or biscuit-root, and 
other vegetables of the same description. These Indians 
are very industrious. They are rarely unemployed. Their 
time is fully occupied in making bows and arrows, lines and 
hooks, or in hunting and fishing, or seeking roots or wild 
fruits for their numerous families. They extend their hunt 
often to the great plains of the Blackfeet and the Crows, to 
the east of the Rocky Mountains, on the upper waters of the 
Missouri and the Saskatchewan, Deprived as they are 
of agricultural instruments and fire-arms, they are always 
in want, and they may be said to keep a perpetual Lent, 

The missionaries furnished them with a few plows and 
spades. Last year I forwarded to them, by the steamer of 
the Missouri Fur Company at St, Louis, some necessary 
agricultural implements, such as plows, etc, ; but the boat 
was burned with all her cargo above the Yellowstone river,^ 
2 The Chippewa, May, 186 1, near the mouth of Poplar river. 



960 HONESTY OF THE KOOTENAIS. 

It is much to be regretted that no more can be done for 
these good Indians, for, of all the mountain tribes, they are 
at once the best disposed and the most necessitous. The 
beau-ideal of the Indian character, uncontaminated by con- 
tact with the whites, is found among them. What is most 
pleasing to the stranger, is to see their simplicity, united 
with sweetness and innocence, keep step with the most per- 
fect dignity and modesty of deportment. The gross vices 
which dishonor the red man on the frontiers, are utterly 
unknown among tliem. They are honest to scrupulosity. 
The Hudson Bay Company, during the forty years that it 
has been trading in furs with them, has never been able to 
perceive that the smallest object had been stolen from them. 
The agent of the Company takes his furs down to Colville 
every spring, and does not return before autumn. During 
his absence, the store is confided to the care of an Indian, 
who trades in the name of the Company, and on the return 
of the agent, renders him a most exact account of his trust. 
I repeat here what I stated in a preceding letter, that the 
store often remains without any one to watch it, the door 
unlocked and unbolted, and the goods are never stolen. 
The Indians go in and out, help themselves to what they 
want, and always scrupulously leave in place of whatever 
article they take its exact value. 

The following anecdote will serve to give an idea of the 
delicacy of conscience of these good Indians. 

An old chief, poor and blind, came from a great distance, 
guided by his son, to consult the priest ; his only object being 
to receive baptism, if he should be considered worthy of the 
privilege. He stated to the missionary that, in spite of his 
ardent desire to be baptized, he had not dared to approach 
the priest for that purpose, owing to a small debt of two 
beaver skins (say ten dollars) which he had contracted. 
" My poverty," said he, " has always prevented me from 
fulfilling this obligation; and until I had done so, I dared 
not gratify the dearest wish of my heart. At last I had a 
thought. I begged my friends to be charitable to me. I 



THREE PIOUS YOUNG PEOPLE. 961 

am now in possession of a fine buffalo robe : I wish to make 
myself worthy of baptism." The missionary, accompanied 
by the old man, went to the clerk of the Company to learn 
the particulars of the debt. The clerk examined the books, 
but said that no such debt existed. The chief still insisted 
on paying, but the clerk refused to take the robe. " Have 
pity on me," at last exclaimed the worthy old man, " this 
debt has rendered me wretched long enough ; for years it 
has weighed on my conscience. I wish to belong to the 
blameless and pure prayer (religion), and to make myself 
worthy of the name of a child of God. This buffalo robe 
covers my debt," and he spread it on the ground at the 
feet of the clerk. He received baptism, and returned home 
contented and happy. 

A young Kootenai who had been baptized in infancy, dur- 
ing my first visit in 1845, had emigrated with his parents 
to the Shoos waps in the mountainous regions near Fraser 
river. His parents desired to marry him to a young wo- 
man who was as yet unbaptized ; he had a sister in the same 
condition. It was resolved that the three should make 
the long journey of many weeks' travel, to reach the Mis- 
sion, in order that both sacraments might be received. On 
tlieir arrival, their ardent faith and praiseworthy earnest- 
ness were the admiration of the whole village. The ferv- 
ent missionary, Father Menetrey,^ instructed these zealous 
neophytes and prepared them for holy baptism. The young 
man, who had not seen a priest since 1845, had prepared 
himself to approach the tribunal of penance, for the first 
time, in order to make his first communion, and to receive 
the nuptial benediction with the proper dispositions. On 
the day appointed for the administration of all these sacra- 

3 Father Joseph Menetrey was born in Friburg. Switzerland, in 1812; 
came to America (Oregon by way of Cape Horn) in 1847; was occu- 
pied at various missions in the northwest at different times; he was 
Father Adrien Hoeken's colaborer in establishing the second (pres- 
ent) mission of St. Ignatius in 1854; succeeded him as local supe- 
rior, and died there April 27, 1891. 
61 



962 KOOTENAIS BUILD A CHURCH. 

ments, the young Kootenai presented himself with an hum- 
ble and modest air at the confessional. He held in his 
hands some bundles of cedar chips, about the size of ordi- 
nary matches, and divided into small bunches of different 
sizes. After kneeling in the confessional and saying the 
Confiteor, he handled the little bundles to the priest. 
" These, my father," said he, " are the result of my ex- 
amination of conscience. This bundle is such a sin : count 
the chips and you will know how many times I have com- 
mitted it; the second bundle is such a sin," and so he con- 
tinued his confession. His confession was accompanied 
with such sincere signs of grief, that his confessor was 
affected to tears. It is impossible not to be struck with 
admiration for the simplicity of heart which led our young 
savage, in his desire to perform this duty with the utmost ex- 
actitude, to this new method of making a confession; but 
still more admirable is the adorable grace of the Holy 
Ghost, who thus sheds his gifts upon these, his poor chil- 
dren of the desert, and, if I may dare to say so, adapts him- 
self to their capacity. 

In their zeal and fervor the Kootenais have built a little 
church of round logs on the great Tobacco Prairie. They 
carried the logs — which averaged from twenty to twenty- 
five feet in length — in their arms a distance of more than 
a quarter of a mile, and raised the walls of the new church, 
as it were, by main force. The exterior is covered with 
straw and sods. In this humble house of the Lord they 
meet morning and evening, to offer to the Great Spirit their 
fervent prayers — the first fruits of the day. How strik- 
ing is the contrast between this little church of the desert 
and the magnificent temples of civilization, especially in 
Europe. The majesty of these churches, their fine pictures, 
the sculpture which adorns their walls, and their imposing 
proportions, inspire the beholder with admiration and awe: 
yet, on entering this little cabin, consecrated to the Great 
Spirit in the desert, erected by poor Indians — on contem- 
plating the profound recollection, the sincere piety depicted 



TOILS OF THE MISSIONARY. 963 

on their features — on hearing them recite their prayers, 
which seem to rise from the bottom of their heart, it is 
difficult to refrain from tears, and the spectator exclaims : 
" Indeed, this poor and humble church is the abode of the 
Lord and the house of prayer ; its whole beauty lies in the 
piety, zeal and fervor of those who enter there! " 

In this humble church are now performed all the religious 
ceremonies of baptism and marriage. The Indians defer 
them until the appointed season for the arrival of the mis- 
sionaries ; they then come in from all parts of the country. 
" How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the 
gospel of peace." The priest of this mission finds the truth 
of the words, " Jugiim meum suave: my yoke is sweet." 
No sooner has he arrived than all crowd round him, as be- 
loved children to greet, after a long absence, a father whom 
they tenderly venerate. Even the hands of infants are 
placed in those of the missionary by their mothers. A long 
conference then follows. The priest gives and receives all 
news of important events which have happened since the 
last meeting, and regulates with the chiefs the exercises to 
be followed during his present visit. He gives two instruc- 
tions a day to adults, and catechises the children ; he helps 
them to examine well their consciences, and to make a good 
confession : he prepares them to approach worthily the holy 
table, instructs the catechumens and admits them to bap- 
tism, together with the children born during his absence; 
he renews and blesses all new marriages ; and, like a father, 
settles any difficulties which may have arisen. Some he 
encourages and strengthens in the faith, and removes the 
doubts and soothes the inquietudes of others. In a word, 
he encourages all these good neophytes to know the Lord, 
to serve him faithfully, and love him with all their hearts. 

If the days of the missionary are thus filled with labor 
and fatigue, he has his full recompense of merit and con- 
solation. He counts them among the happiest days of his 
life. The Reverend Father Menetrey, their missionary, 
during his visit in 1858, baptized fifty children and thirty 



964 THE MISSIONARY AND THE DOGS. 

adults, blessed forty marriages, and heard over 500 con- 
fessions. 

The great chief of the Kootenais, named Michael, recalls 
in the midst of his tribe the life and virtues of the ancient 
patriarchs. His life is that of a good and tender father, 
surrounded by a numerous family of docile and affection- 
ate children. His camp numbers 400 souls. They are all 
baptized, and they walk in the footsteps of their worthy 
chief. It is truly a delightful spectacle to find in the bosom 
of these isolated mountains of the Columbia river, a tribe 
of poor Indians living in the greatest purity of manners, 
and leading a life of evangelic simplicity. They are almost 
deprived of the succors of religion, and receive the visit 
of a priest but once or twice in the course of a year. 

The sleep of a missionary among the Indians is always 
deep. His entire day, and a great part of the night, is 
spent in instructing them and arranging the affairs of their 
conscience. When his work is done, his slumber is pro- 
found, and it is not surprising that he hears nothing that 
passes around him. I wish to add, at this point, a little 
chapter on the subject of Indian dogs. " Expert crede 
Roberto." 

Having had much experience in this matter myself, I 
give ready and implicit faith to the statement made to me 
by Father Menetrey, as to the conduct of the dogs of the 
Kootenais. It is the reverse side of his beautiful descrip- 
tion of life among this tribe. All is not beauty and pleas- 
ure in this charming wilderness. It is well that travelers 
at a distance should be forewarned of what they may expect, 
that they may provide themselves for the occasion. If the 
traveler has only one tent, he must be careful before he re- 
tires to barricade the entrance well, and surround it with 
brush ; he must stop every crack and cranny and carefully 
hang out of reach not only all his provisions, but anything 
made of leather, or that has once had connection with flesh, 
otherwise he will find on waking that himself and his cattle 
are deprived of provender. The Indian dogs are as bad 



THE CHIEFS HOLD A COUNCIL. 965 

as their masters are good. Their masters abhor theft, but 
these dogs make it their business, and subsist entirely by- 
pilfering. The dogs are found to the number of six or 
seven in each family : each member owns one or two ; they 
live on bones and the crumbs which fall from the frugal 
table of their poor masters, and I can assure you that very 
little is left from the meal of an Indian, who considers it a 
duty to eat all that is set before him, and is by no means nice 
at table. The dogs therefore are left to provide for them- 
selves as best they can. For the most part, they work by 
night, and become very cunning and expert : hunger sharp- 
ens their rapacious instincts. Father Menetrey assures us 
that he has very often awoke in the morning as poor as Job, 
everything having been carried off during the night. It 
was in vain that he had taken every precaution which pru- 
dence suggested before going to bed, the industry of these 
nocturnal marauders got the better of all his care. Sleep- 
ing like a log after the fatigues of the day, he never heard 
the noise made by the thieves during their stay, though 
they often fought with one another in his tent over 
their spoils. The more vigilant savages were frequently 
aroused by the racket made in his tent, and were in the 
habit of coming to his rescue. Sometimes a good old In- 
dian dame, armed with a big stick, would present herself 
suddenly upon the field of battle, dealing her blows right and 
left upon the combatants; again a stalwart young savage 
would venture into the Father's tent to disperse these mid- 
night marauders and restore peace. Occasionally the good 
Father himself would be aroused by the noise of the howl- 
ing of the dogs and the cries of those who had come to pro- 
tect him. They would then set to work to repair, though 
rather too late, the breaches made in his fortifications, stop- 
ping up every hole and barricading the entry afresh. He 
would then lie down again, at the risk of another attack 
from these indefatigable robbers. 

At last a council of chiefs was held on the subject, in 
which it was resolved to put an end to these scenes, so 



966 THE DOGS ARE OUTVOTED. 

annoying to the missionary. They therefore surrounded 
his tent with an inclosure impenetrable to dogs. They 
went further even, and set to work in good earnest to build 
a presbytery with two apartments, attached to the church. 
One room was made to serve for a sleeping-room, and the 
other to meet in and for private conference with the priest. 
The good savages replaced, each time, the provisions and 
other objects stolen by their dogs. Taking the food, as it 
were, from their own mouths and from those of their chil- 
dren, that the Father might not suffer from hunger; for 
fear that the want of necessaries might shorten his stay 
among them. 

It appears from these little details, that charity, the el- 
dest daughter of religion, flourishes in the soul of the simple 
savage, as well as in that of the children of civilization. 
Though poorer and more humble among them, charity is 
not less industrious, not less beautiful : it is more simple 
and candid with them, and therefore more attractive. 



Fort Vancouver, May 25, 1859.* 
Dear Captain: 

Toward the end of last March, owing to the deep 
snows and the impracticableness of the mountain passes, 
I received your kind favor of the ist of January of the 
present year. I am happy to learn that my request to the 
general, about bringing down to Vancouver a deputation 
of the various chiefs of the upper tribes, met with his ap- 
proval. I have no doubt, from the happy dispositions in 
which I left them at Walla Walla, the general's advice and 
counsel will be cheerfully and punctually followed out by 
them, and will prove highly beneficial to their respective 
tribes, and consolidate the peace established last fall by 
Colonel Wright. 

* Addressed to Alfred Pleasonton, Captain Second Dragoons. Assist- 
ant Adjutant-General, U. S. A. Published in New Indian Sketches, 
pp. 130-135 and 141-146. 



PREJUDICES REMOVED. 967 

During my stay among the Rocky Mountain Indians, in 
the long and dreary winter, from the 21st of November last 
until the end of April, I have carried out, as far as lay in 
my powder, the instructions of the general. I succeeded, I 
think, in removing many doubts and prejudices against the 
intentions of the Government, and against the whites gener- 
ally, which were lurking in the minds of a great number of 
the most influential Indians. I held frequent conversations 
wuth the chieftains of the Cceur d'Alenes, the Spokans, sev- 
eral of the Skoyelpies, or Kettlefalls, and the lower Kalis- 
pels, who had chiefly aided, particularly the two first-men- 
tioned tribes, in their lawless and savage attacks on Colonel 
Steptoe, and their war with Colonel Wright. 

These various tribes, with the exception, perhaps, of a 
small portion of lawless Kettlefalls, and lower Kalispels, 
are well disposed, and will faithfully adhere to the condi- 
tions prescribed by Colonel Wright, and to any future re- 
quests and proposals of treaties coming from Government. 
The upper Pend d'Oreilles, the Kootenais and Flatheads, 
I found, as years ago, strong friends and adherents to the 
whites, and I have every reason to think that they will re- 
main faithful ; they ever glory, and truly, that not a drop 
of a white man's blood has ever been spilled by any one of 
their respective tribes. When I proposed to them that from 
each tribe a chief should accompany me down to Fort Van- 
couver, to pay their respects to the general, and to listen to 
his advice, all eagerly consented, and they kept in readiness 
for the long journey as soon as the snow would have suffi- 
ciently disappeared. 

Meanwhile, Major Owen, agent among the Flatheads, 
arrived at St. Ignatius' Mission, and made known to me that 
he had received orders from the Superintendent of Indian 
Afifairs and from Commissioner Mix, to bring down to 
Salem a chief of each tribe of the upper country. Upon this 
declaration I persuaded the Indians that as Major Owen had 
received orders from the highest authority he superseded 
me, and they should look upon him as their leader in this 



968 KAMIAKIN TELLS HIS STORY. 

expedition, while I would follow on with them as far as 
practicable and I would be allowed. The major having 
brought no provisions for them, I lodged the chiefs in my 
own tent, and provided them with all necessary supplies 
from the i6th of April until the 13th instant, the day on 
which we reached Walla Walla, and where the chiefs were 
liberally provided for by Captain Dent, in command of the 
fort. The deputation of chiefs was stopped at Walla Walla 
by Major Owen, to await an express he had sent on from 
Spokan Prairie, with instructions to the superintendent at 
Salem. 

My own instructions from the general, according to your 
letter of the ist of January, " To return to Fort Vancouver 
as early in the spring as practicable, for some contingency 
might arise requiring the general's presence elsewhere," 
hurried me down in compliance with said order. With re- 
gard to Kamiakin, and his brother Schloom, I held several 
talks with them in February, March and April, and ac- 
quainted them with the general's order, wish and desire 
in their regard, namely, that they should follow me and sur- 
render into his hands, assuring them, in the general's own 
words, that " the Government is always generous to a fallen 
foe, though it is at the same time determined to protect its 
citizens in every part of its territory," etc. 

They invariably listened with attention and respect. Ka- 
miakin made an open avowal of all he had done in his wars 
against the Government of the country, particularly in the 
attack on Colonel Steptoe, and in the war with Colonel 
Wright. Kamiakin stated that he strongly advised his peo- 
ple to the contrary, but was at last drawn into the contest 
by the most opprobrious language the deceitful Telgawax 
upbraided him with in full council, in presence of the va- 
rious chiefs of the Coeur d'Alenes, Spokans and Palooses. 
Kamiakin repeatedly declared to me, and with the greatest 
apparent earnestness, that he never was a murderer, and, 
whenever he could, he restrained his people against all vio- 
lent attacks on whites passing through the country. 



WRETCHEDNESS OF THE CHIEFS. 969 

On my way down to Vancouver from St. Ignatius' Mis- 
sion, I met him again, near Thompson's Prairie, on Clark's 
Fork. Kamiakin declared he would go down and follow 
me if he had a horse to ride, his own not being in a condi- 
tion to undertake a long journey. I had none to lend at 
that moment. At my arrival in the Spokan Prairie, meet- 
ing with Gerry, one of the Spokan chiefs, I acquainted him 
with the circumstance, and entreated him, for the sake of 
Kamiakin and his poor children, to send him a horse and 
an invitation to come on and to accompany the other chiefs 
to Walla Walla, and hence to Vancouver ; it being his best 
opportunity to present himself before the general and super- 
intendent, in order to expose his case to them and obtain 
rest and peace. Gerry complied with my request, and Ka- 
miakin soon presented himself and joined the other chiefs. 
I had daily conversations with him until he reached Walla 
Walla : he places implicit confidence in the generosity of the 
general. I believe him sincere in his repeated declarations 
that henceforth nothing shall ever be able to withdraw him 
again from the path of peace, or, in his own words, " to 
unbury and raise the tomahawk against the whites." My 
candid impression is, should Kamiakin be allowed to return 
soon, pardoned and free, to his country, it will have the 
happiest and most salutary effect among the upper Indian 
tribes, and facilitate greatly all future transactions and 
views of Government in their regard. The Indians are 
anxiously awaiting the result ; I pray that it may terminate 
favorably with Kamiakin. The sight of Kamiakin's chil- 
dren, the poverty and misery in which I found them plunged, 
drew abundant tears from my eyes. Kamiakin, the once 
powerful chieftain, who possessed thousands of horses and 
a large number of cattle, has lost all, and is now reduced to 
the most abject poverty. His brother Schloom, if he lives, 
will come in in the course of the summer. I left him at 
Clark's Fork sickly and almost blind : he could only travel 
by small journeys. Telgawax, a Paloos, I think, is among 
the Buffalo Nez Perces ; from all I can learn, he has been 



970 SKETCH OF THE SPOKAN PRAIRIE. 

the prime mover in all the late wars against Colonel Step- 
toe and Colonel Wright. His influence is not great, but he 
remains unceasing in his endeavors to create bitter feelings 
against the whites, whenever he can meet with an oppor- 
tunity. 



Fort Vancouver, W. T., May 28, 1859. 

In compliance with the request of our worthy brigadier- 
general, I herewith give you a short narrative of the upper 
Washington Territory, as yet occupied by various Indian 
tribes, as far as my views and observations may have ex- 
tended during several years' residence in that region, and 
particularly during the last winter trip I performed under 
the special directions of the general. 

The distance from Fort Walla Walla to the great Spokan 
Prairie, through which the Spokan river flows, is about 150 
miles. This whole region is undulating and hilly, and 
though generally of a light soil, it is covered with a rich 
and nutritious grass, forming grazing fields where thou- 
sands of cattle might be easily raised. It is almost destitute 
of timber until you are within thirty miles of the Spokan 
Prairie, where you find open woods and clusters of trees 
scattered far and wide ; this portion, particularly, contains a 
great number of lakes and ponds with ranges of long walls 
of large basaltic columns and beds of basalt. The country 
abounds in nutritious roots (bitter-root, camas, etc.), on 
which principally the Indians subsist for a great portion of 
the year. The Spokan Prairie is about thirty miles from 
north to south and from east to west, bounded all around 
by well-wooded hills and mountains of easy access. The 
soil is generally light, though covered with abundance of 
grass. 

Along the base of the hills and the mountains patches of 
several acres of rich arable land may be found. The Spokan 
Prairie is claimed by the Cceur d'Alene Indians. Taking 
Coeur d'Alene lake as a central point, their country may 



THE CCEUR d'aL^NE COUNTRY. 97I 

extend fifty miles to every point of the compass. The lake 
is a beautiful sheet of clear water, embedded amid lofty and 
high mountain bluffs, and shaded with a variety of pines, 
firs and cedars ; in its whole circumference, to my knowl- 
edge, there is no arable land. The low bottoms in several 
of its many bays are subject to frequent and long inunda- 
tions in the spring. The lake is about thirty miles in ex- 
tent from south to north, its width throughout is from one 
to two or three miles. It receives its waters principally from 
two beautiful rivers, the St. Joseph and the Coeur d'x\lene, 
running parallel from east to west; each is from sixty to 
eighty yards broad, with a depth of from twenty to thirty 
feet. After the spring freshet their currents are smooth and 
even, and are hardly perceptible for about thirty miles from 
their mouths, and until they penetrate into the high moun- 
tain region which separates their waters from those of 
Clark's Fork and of the St. Mary's or Bitter Root river; 
their respective valleys are from one to three miles broad, 
and are much subject to inundations in the spring; the nar- 
row strips of land which border the two rivers are of the 
richest mould. 

The deep snows in winter, the ice and water, keep these 
valleys literally blocked up during several months ( last win- 
ter it continued for about five months). Small lakes, from 
one to three miles in circumference, are numerous in the 
two valleys. Camas, and other nutritious roots and berries 
abound in them. Beautiful forests of pine, etc., are found 
all along. The mountains bordering the two valleys are 
generally of an oval shape, and well wooded ; a few only 
are snow-topped during the greatest portion of the year. All 
the rivers and rivulets in the Cceur d'Alene country abound 
wonderfully in mountain trout and other fish. The forests 
are well stocked with deer, with black and brown bears, and 
with a variety of fur-bearing animals. The long winters 
and deep snows must retard the settlement of this country. 

Clark's Fork, at its crossing below the great Kalispel lake, 
is about forty miles distant from Spokan Prairie. Clark's 



97^ THE CLARK S FORK REGION. 

Fork is one of the principal tributaries of the upper Colum- 
bia. From its entrance into the lake to the Niyoutzamin, or 
Vermilion river, a distance of about seventy miles, I counted 
thirty-eight rapids. You meet with a succession of rapids 
and falls to its very head. Before it joins the Columbia, for 
a distance of about thirty miles, its rapids and falls are in- 
superable. In its whole length Clark's river has few spots 
of good and arable soil, with ranges of dense and thick 
forests. The upper portion of the river, and its upper tribu- 
taries, have a succession of large prairies of light soil filled 
with water-worn pebbles, indicating bottoms or beds of an- 
cient lakes. All these prairies are covered with a luxuriant 
and nutritious grass, and owing, probably, to the position 
of the high mountains by which they are surrounded, they 
are little or not covered with snows in the winter season. 
Such are Thompson's Prairie, Horse Prairie, Camas Prairie, 
Jaco [Jocko] Prairie, Flathead Lake Prairie, with several 
other minor grazing fields. Far and wide apart, spots of 
less or more acres of good arable land are found; but too 
few, indeed, to make it for years to come a thickly-settled 
portion for the whites. 

The country of the upper Clark's Fork, the St. Mary's 
or Bitter Root valley, the valley of Hell's Gate Fork, the 
upper valleys on the Beaver headwaters, the Kootenai coun- 
try within the forty-ninth degree, and under the jurisdiction 
of the United States, appear to be laid out and designed by 
Providence to serve as reserves for the remnants of the 
various scattered tribes of Oregon and Washington Terri- 
tory, at least for some years to come. This region, I should 
think, might contain all the Indians, and afford them the 
means of subsistence. The rivers could supply them with 
fish, the prairies with domestic cattle; deer and elk are still 
abundant, the buffalo grounds are not far off; wild edible 
roots and fruits are plenty ; while in each section a sufficient 
portion of arable land might be found and reclaimed for 
their sustenance. Should all the remnants of Indians be 
gathered in this upper region, one single military post 



NEED OF TOOLS AND TEACHING. 973 

would suffice to protect them against all encroachments and 
infringements of evil-disposed whites on Indians, and of 
Indians on the rights of the whites. 

As the reserves are now laid out in Washington and 
Oregon Territories, far and wide apart, surrounded and 
accessible on all sides by whites, experience teaches that it 
must lead to the speedy destruction of the poor Indians. 
Liquor and its concomitants, sickness and vice, w^ill soon 
accomplish the work. Providence has intrusted and placed 
these weak tribes under the care and protection of a power- 
ful Government, whose noble end has always been to protect 
and advance them. If aided and assisted, in a proper situa- 
tion, with agricultural implements, with schools, mills, 
blacksmiths, etc., I have no doubt but thousands of the 
aborigines might be reclaimed, and live to bless their bene- 
factors. In the topographical memoir of Colonel Wright's 
campaign, recently published (page 75), I read to this ef- 
fect : " The Government, in its wisdom and prudence, 
should make some timely provision for these many Indians 
by selecting for and placing them upon proper reservations, 
in order that they may not be caused to disappear by the fast- 
approaching waves of civilization and settlement, that must 
overtake and eventually destroy them." I have labored for 
several years among the upper tribes in the capacity of mis- 
sionary. My companions have carried on the work to the 
present time, and will, I hope, continue their labors. The 
want of adequate means has greatly retarded one of the 
principal objects we had in view, — their civilization. We 
can all, and do, cheerfully testify to the good dispositions 
of these upper tribes. Should they be supplied with the 
necessary implements of agriculture, with oxen, etc., they 
would all work, and would soon place themselves above 
want and in comfortable circumstances. As for schools, 
all are anxious to have their children taught. These are a 
few points I desire to be allowed to present to the considera- 
tion of the general, if they can in anywise tend to the ameli- 
oration of the lot of the Indians. 



CHAPTER IV. 

NOTES ON THE PAWNEES. 

Tribes of the Pawnees — Dwellings — Abandonment of the aged — 
Morning star worship — Human sacrifice — Particulars of sacrifice of 
a Sioux captive. 

Philadelphia, April 6, 1847. 
Mr. J. D. Bryant:^ 

7^ EAR SIR. — The nation of the Pawnees is divided into 
^^ four great tribes, which act in concert as one people. 
They have their villages upon the river Platte, or Nebraska, 
and its tributaries, about 150 miles west of the Missouri 
river. They are the same true children of the desert as they 
have been these many ages. They dress in the skins of ani- 
mals killed in the chase. They cultivate maize and squashes, 
using the shoulder-blade of the buffalo as a substitute for 
the plow and hoe. In the season of the chase, a whole 
village, men, women and children, abandon their settle- 
ments and go in pursuit of the animals whose flesh supplies 
them with food. Their huts, which they call akkaros, are 
circular, and about 140 feet in circumference. They are 
ingeniously formed by planting young trees ar suitable dis- 
tances apart, then bending and joining their tops to a num- 
ber of pillars or posts fixed circularly in the centre of the 
inclosure. The trees are then covered with bark, over which 
is thrown a layer of earth nearly a foot in thickness, and 
finally a solid mass of green turf completes the structure. 

1 The account of human sacrifice among the Pawnees was pub- 
lished as Letters XXVI, Oregon Missions, XXVIII, Missions de 
I'Oregon. It is dated as above in both, but addressed in French to a 
Father. The English, which seems to be a translation from the French, 
is here followed. 

[974] 



PAWNEE HEAVEN AND HELL. 975 

These dwellings, thus completed, resemble hillocks. A large 
aperture in the top serves to admit the light and also to 
emit the smoke. They are very warm in winter, and cool, 
but oftentimes very damp, in summer. They are large 
enough to contain ten or a dozen families. 

If, on the long journeys which they undertake in search 
of game, any should be impeded, either by age or sickness, 
their children or relations make a small hut of dried grass 
to shelter them from the heat of the sun or from the weather, 
leaving as much provision as they are able to spare, and 
thus abandon them to their destiny. Nothing is more touch- 
ing than this constrained separation, caused by absolute 
necessity — the tears and cries of the children on the one 
hand, and the calm resignation of the aged father or mother 
on the other. They often encourage their children not to 
expose their own lives in order to prolong their short rem- 
nant of time. They are anxious to depart on their long 
journey and to join their ancestors in the hunting grounds 
of the Great Spirit. If, some days after, they are successful 
in the chase, they return as quickly as possible to render as- 
sistance and consolation. These practices are common to 
all the nomadic tribes of the mountains. 

The Pawnees have nearly the same ideas concerning the 
universal deluge as those which I have given of the Pota- 
watomies. In relation to the soul, they say that there is a 
resemblance in the body which does not die, but detaches 
itself when the body expires. If a man has been good dur- 
ing this life, kind to his parents, a good hunter, a good war- 
rior, his soul (sa rcssernblance) is transported into a land 
of delights, abundance and pleasures. If, on the contrary, 
a man has been wicked, hard-hearted, cruel and indolent, 
his soul passes through narrow straits, difficult and dan- 
gerous, into a country where all is confusion, contrariety 
and unhappiness. 

In their religious ceremonies they dance, sing and pray 
before a bird stuffed with all kinds of roots and herbs used 
in their superstition. They have a fabulous tradition, which 



9/6 SACRIFICE OF A SIOUX CAPTIVE. 

teaches them that the morning star sent this bird to their 
ancestors, as its representative, with orders to invoke it on 
all important occasions and to exhibit it in times of sacrifice. 
Before the invocation, they fill the calumet with the sacred 
herb contained in the bird. They then puff out the smoke 
toward the star, offer the prayers and make their demands, 
dancing and singing, and celebrating in verses the great 
power of the bird. They implore its assistance and its 
favor, whether to obtain success in hunting or in war, or 
to demand snow in order to make the buffalo descend from 
the mountains, or to appease the Great Spirit when a public 
calamity befalls the nation, or a family, or even a single 
person. The Pawnees are one of the few aboriginal tribes, 
which, descending from the ancient Mexicans, are guilty of 
offering human sacrifices. In order to justify this barbarous 
practice, they say that the morning star taught them by 
means of the bird, that such sacrifices were agreeable to it, 
and wlould bring down upon the nation the favor of Tirawa, 
the great Deliberator^ of the universe. They are firmly 
persuaded that human sacrifices are most agreeable to the 
Great Spirit. Hence, when the Pawnee takes a prisoner and 
wishes to render himself acceptable to heaven, he devotes 
it to the morning star. At the time of sacrifice, he delivers 
the prisoner over into the hands of the jugglers; soon after 
Avhich commence the ceremonies preparatory to the offering. 
I was in the neighborhood when one of these bloody sacri- 
fices took place, and the particulars, which I am about to 
relate, were reported to me by worthy eye-witnesses.^ 

The victim in this horrid transaction was a young Sioux 
or Dakota girl, aged fifteen years, who had been taken pris- 
oner by the Pawnees about six months previous to her im- 
molation. During the months of her captivity, she received 
from the Pawnees every mark of regard which savages are 
<:apable of bestowing. She was an honored guest at all the 

2 A name which they give to the Great Spirit. — Author's Note. 

3 In his Letters and Sketches, p. 73, written 1841, Father De Smet 
places this occurrence in 1837. 



TEN INSTRUMENTALISTS BEGIN, 977 

fetes and festivities of the village; and everywhere was 
treated, in appearance at least, rather as a fond friend than 
as a prisoner. It is the custom thus to prepare the victim, 
in order to conceal their infernal design. 

The month of April, being the season for planting, is on 
that account selected for the offering of their abominable 
sacrifices. To this end, four of the principal savages of the 
tribe assemble in the largest and most beautiful akkaro or 
hut, to deliberate with Tirawa concerning the sacrifice of 
the victim. According to their belief, a human offering is 
rewarded by him with an abundant harvest, he fills the 
hunting grounds convenient to their villages with immense 
herds of buffaloes, deer and antelopes, thus enabling them 
to kill their prey with more facility and with less risk of 
coming in contact with other warlike and hostile nations. 

The oldest savage of the tribe presides at the feast given 
on the occasion. Ten of the best singers and musicians, each 
with his peculiar instrument, squat in the middle of the 
akkaro. . Four of them have dried calabashes in their hands, 
from which the seeds have been extracted and small pebbles 
placed in their stead, which, being shaken by the muscular 
arms of these gigantic savages, produce a sound like falling 
hail. Four others beat their tckapiroutche — this is a kind 
of drum of a most mournful and deafening [Fr. sourd] 
sound ; it is made from the trunk of a tree and is about 
three feet long and one-and-a-half broad, covered at 
both ends with deer skin. The remaining two have a 
kind of flute made of reeds, about two feet long and 
one inch in diameter, instruments such as were used 
by the ancient shepherds, and which give forth sounds 
that may be heard at the distance of half a mile. They 
fasten to each instrument a little tezvaara, or medicine bag, 
filled with roots and other materials, to which, in their 
superstitious rites, they attach a supernatural power that ren- 
ders their offering more agreeable to the Author of Life. 
Four sentinels, each armed with a lance, take their position 
at the four cardinal points of the lodge, to maintain order 
among the spectators and to prevent the entrance of the 
G2 



978 OTHERS DANCE AND YELL. 

women, young girls and children. The guests are seated 
upon the ground or upon mats on the right and left of the 
presiding juggler, turning around from time to time in the 
most grotesque and ridiculous dances. Imagine thirty- 
swarthy savages, with their bodies tattooed; their faces 
besmeared with paint — white, black, made of soot and the 
scrapings of the kettles, yellow, green and vermilion; and 
their long and disheveled hair clotted with mud or clay. 
Placing themselves in a circle, they shriek, they leap, and 
give to their bodies, their arms, their legs and their heads 
a thousand hideous contortions ; while streams of perspira- 
tion, pouring down their bodies, render the horrors of their 
appearance still more dreadful by the confused commingling 
of the colors with which they are smeared — now they 
crowd together pell-mell, then separate, some to the right, 
some to the left, one upon one foot, another upon two, 
while others go on all-fours without order, and although 
without the appearance of measure, yet in perfect harmony 
with their drums, their calabashes and their flutes. 

Near the centre of the hut, at about four feet from the 
fire-place, are placed four large buffalo heads, dissected, 
in order that they may take the augury. The presiding 
juggler, the musicians and the dancers have their heads 
covered with the down of the swan, which sticks to them 
by means of honey, with which they smear their hair — a 
practice common to all the tribes of North America in their 
superstitious rites. The president or presiding juggler 
alone is painted with red, the musicians, one-half red and 
the other half black,'* while all the others are daubed with 
all colors, and in the most fantastic figures. 

Each time that the music, the songs and the dances are 
performed, the spectators observe the most profound silence, 
and during the space of thirty minutes that the extraordi- 
nary charivari continues, nothing is heard but the chants, 
the cries, the bowlings and the music. When all have fig- 
ured in the dance, the presiding juggler gives the signal 

■* Fr. white. 



TIIEY SMOKE TO TIRAWA. 979 

to Stop, crying out with all the force of his lungs. Im- 
mediately all cease, each one takes his place, and the auditory 
responds : " iVeva ! Neva ! Neva !" it is well, it is well, it 
is well ! The dancers then fill the ancient nawishkaro, or 
religious calumet, which is used only upon occasions the 
most important. They offer it to the president, who, strik- 
ing with both his hands the long pipe, adorned with pearls 
and worked with different figures, goes and squats himself 
down by the fire-place. One of the guards places a coal 
upon the mysterious calumet. Having lighted it, he rises 
and gives a puff to each of the musicians without once 
slacking his hold from the pipe. He then turns toward 
the centre, and raising his eyes toward heaven, he offers the 
calumet to the Master of Life, resting for a moment in 
majestic silence : then, offering three puffs to heaven, he 
speaks these words: "O Tirawa! Thou who beholdest 
all things, smoke with thy children, and take pity on us." 
He then offers the calumet to the buffalo heads, their great 
manitous, salutes each of them with two puffs, and then 
goes to empty the bowl of the pipe in a wooden dish, pre- 
pared for that purpose, that the sacred ashes may be after- 
ward gathered and preserved in a deer-skin pouch.^ 

After the dance, the master of ceremonies serves up the 
repast to the guests, seated in a circle. The food consists 
of dried buffalo meat and boiled maize, served in wooden 
plates filled to the brim. Each one is bound to empty his 
plate, even should he expose himself to the danger of death 
from indigestion. The president offers a portion of the 
meat and maize to the Great Spirit, and places it accordingly 
upon the ground, and he then makes a similar offering to 
one of the buffalo heads, which is supposed to be a party 
to the feast. At length, while each one occupies himself 

5 This method of smoking is in great repute among all the savages 
of the West. It is of the same importance and equally as binding as an 
oath among civilized nations. If tv^'o savages, ready to kill each other, 
can be induced to accept the calumet, the dispute ceases, and the bond 
of their friendship becomes stronger than ever. — Author's Note. 



980 THE VICTIM IS MADE FAT. 

with doing honor to his plate, one of the chiefs of the band 
rises up and announces to all the guests that the Master of 
Life dances with him, and that he accepts the calumet and 
the feasting. All the band reply : " Neva ! Neva ! Neva ! " 
This is the first condemnation. 

The repast ended, they again dance, after which the 
calumet is lighted the second time ; and as in the former in- 
stance, is offered to the Master of Life and to the buffalo 
heads, upon which the lodge again resounds with the triple 
cry, "Neva!" This last dance condemns without appeal 
the unfortunate victim whose immolation is invoked. 

After all their grotesque dances, their cries, their chants 
and their vociferations, the savages, preceded by the mu- 
sicians, go out of the lodge to present the sacred calumet 
to the buffalo heads placed on the tops of the lodges of the 
village, each of which is ornamented with from two to eight 
heads, preserved as the trophies of their skill in the chase. 
At each puff the multitude raise a furious cry, for now the 
whole village joins in the extraordinary procession. They 
stop before the lodge of the Sioux girl, and make the air 
resound with horrible imprecations against their enemies 
and against the unfortunate and innocent victim, who rep- 
resents them on the present occasion. From this moment 
she is guarded by two old satellites, whose office it is to 
beguile her from the least suspicion that she is the victim 
. for the coming sacrifice ; and whose duty it also is to enter- 
tain her upon the great feast they prepare on the occasion 
in her honor, and that she may be well fed in order to ap- 
pear more beautiful and fat, and thereby more agreeable 
to the Master of Life. This ends the first day of the cere- 
monies. 

On the second day, two old female savages, with dishev- 
eled hair, their faces wrinkled and daubed with black*' and 
red paint, their naked arms and legs tattooed, barefooted, 
and with no other dress than a deer-skin petticoat, extend- 

c Fr. white. 



SHE CUTS HER OWN TREE. 98 1 

ing down to the knee — in a word, two miserable-looking 
beldams, capable of striking terror in any beholder, — issue 
from their huts with pipes' in their hands, ornamented with 
the scalps which their husbands have taken from their un- 
happy enemies. Passing through the village, they dance 
around each akkaro, solemnly announcing " that the Sioux 
girl has been given to the Master of Life by wise and just 
men, that the offering is acceptable to him, and that each 
one should prepare to celebrate the day with festivity and 
mirth." At this announcement the idlers and children of 
the village move about and shout with joy. They then, 
still dancing, re-conduct the two old squaws to their huts, 
before which they place their pikes as trophies, and enter. 
All then return to their own lodge, to partake of the feasts 
of their relatives. 

About ten o'clock in the morning of the third day, all 
the young women and girls of the village, armed with 
hatchets, repair to the lodge of their young and unhappy 
captive, and invite her to go into the forest with them to 
cut wood. The simple-hearted, confiding child accepts 
their malicious invitation with eagerness and joy, happy 
to breathe once more the pure air. They then give her a 
liatchet, and the female troop advance toward the place 
marked out in the dance, making the forest resound with 
shouts of joy. Atipaat, an old squaw who conducts them, 
designates by a blow of the hatchet the tree which is to be 
cut down. Each then gives it one blow, after which the 
victim approaches to complete the work. As soon as she 
commences what seems to her but pastime, the whole 
crowd of young furies surround her, howling and dancing. 
Unconscious that the tree is to supply the wood for her 
own sacrifice, the poor child pursues her work as if a great- 
honor had been reserved for her. Atipaat, the old woman, 
then fastens to her the ashki® with which to draw the wood. 

"* Fr. pikes. 

8 The ashki is a cord, made of horse hair or of the bark of the elm, 
which they prepare by boiling it in cold water. It varies from twenty- 



982 SOME CEREMONIAL COSTUMES. 

The troop then lead the way toward the village, dancing 
as they pass along, but giving the hapless victim almost no 
assistance in dragging her load. An innumerable mul- 
titude attend them to the place of sacrifice, and receive 
them with loud acclamations. They there relieve her of her 
burden and again place her in the hands of the guards, who, 
with voices harsh and quivering, chant the great deeds of 
their younger days and re-conduct her to her lodge. In 
the meantime the whole band assist to arrange the wood 
between two trees, after which they immediately disperse. 

On the morning of the fourth day, before sunrise, a sav- 
age visits all the lodges to announce to each family, in the 
name of the ^Master of Life, that they must furnish two 
billets of wood about three feet long for the sacrifice. 

Then thirty warriors issue from their lodges, decked in 
all sorts of accoutrements ; their heads adorned with deer 
and buffalo horns, with the tails of horses and the plumes 
of the eagle and heron, interwoven with their scalplocks, 
while the tails of wolves and wild cats stream from various 
parts behind, as the wings of Mercury are represented, with 
pendants hanging from their noses and ears, so elongated 
by the weight of the ornaments suspended to them that they 
float about and strike against their shoulders. Glass beads, 
or necklaces of brass^ or steel, adorn their necks, while 
highly-ornamented deer-skin leggins and curiously-painted- 
buffalo skins, negligently thrown over their shoulders, com- 
plete their grotesque habiliments. Thus accoutred they pre- 
sent themselves at the hut of their captive, who is already 
adorned with the most beautiful dress their fancy can de- 
vise, or the materials at their command produce. Her 
head-dress is composed of the feathers of the eagle and 

five to <;ixty feet in length, and, although it is but about one inch in 
thickness, it is strong enough to bind the most powerful man. This 
they adorn with the quills of the porcupine and with little bells. The 
bells, besides for the sake of ornament, are intended to give notice in 
case the victim makes any efforts to escape. — Author's Note. 
9 Fr. poarls. 



THE FUEL IS COLLECTED. 983 

swan, and descends behind in gracefully waving curves, 
even to the ground. Her person is properly painted with 
red and black lines. A frock of deer skin descends to the 
knee, while a beautiful pair of leggins extend from thence 
to the ankle. A pair of moccasins garnished with porcu- 
pine quills, pearl and glass beads, are on her feet. Pend- 
ants hang from her ears and nose, a necklace ornaments 
her neck, and bracelets her arms; nothing was spared that 
could add to her beauty. 

Tranquility and joy distinguish her as she approaches 
the grand feast, which she has been made to believe her kind 
guardians have prepared to honor her. At the first cry of 
the warriors, the poor child comes out of the hut and walks 
at the head of her executioners, who follow in single file. 
As they pass along they enter into all the huts, where the 
most profound silence and the utmost propriety reign. The 
Sioux girl walks round the fire-place, her followers do the 
same, and, just as she leaves the lodge, the principal squaw 
gives her two billets of wood, which the unconscious victim 
gives in her turn to each of the savages. In this manner, 
when she has been made to collect all the wood to serve for 
her immolation, she takes her place in the rear of the band, 
joyous and content that she has had the happiness to con- 
tribute to the pleasure of her executioners ; after which they 
again restore her to her two guards, to be presented with 
her last repast, which consists of a large plate of maize. 

All now wait in anxious expectation to witness the last 
scene of the bloody drama. The whole village is in com- 
motion. Everywhere the warriors, old and young, may, 
be seen preparing their murderous arrow, as upon the eve 
of a battle. Some practice shooting at a mark; the more 
barbarous, thirsting for the blood of their enemies, encour- 
age and instruct their children in the use of the bow and 
arrow, and what part of the body they ought to strike. 
The young women and girls devote themselves to clearing 
away the bushes and preparing the place of sacrifice, after 
the accomplishment of which they employ themselves dur- 



984 SOME OFFICIAL MONSTROSITIES. 

ing the rest of that day and night in pohshing their neck- 
laces, pendants and bracelets, and all the other ornaments 
in which they wish to appear at the great feast. 

On the fifth day, an aide-de-camp of Lecharoutetewar- 
ouchte, or the chief of sacrifice, ran through the village to 
announce, in the name of his master, the necessity of pre- 
paring the red and black paint, which is to serve for the 
grand ceremony. It is vain to attempt to give you, my 
dear sir, an adequate description of this personage, either 
as regards his costume, his figure, or his manner ; it is every- 
thing that a savage can invent of the fantastic, the ridiculous 
and the frightful, united in one person. The collector of 
colors himself scarcely yields to his comrade in monstrosity. 
He has the appearance of one, truly, just escaped from the 
infernal regions. His body is painted black, which, con- 
trasted v/ith the whiteness of his teeth and of his huge 
eyes, and with his hair besmeared with white clay and 
bristling like the mane of a lion, gives him an aspect ter- 
rible and ferocious in the extreme. At each heel is fas- 
tened the tail of a wolf, and on his feet a pair of moccasins 
made of buffalo skin, with the long shaggy hair on the 
outside. He passes through the whole village with a meas- 
ured step, holding a wooden plate in each hand. He enters 
the huts successively, and as he approaches the fire-place he 
cries aloud: "The Master of Life sends me here." Im- 
mediately a woman comes and empties into one of his plates 
either some red or some black paint, which she had pre- 
pared. Upon the reception of which, he raises his eyes to 
heaven, and with a loud voice says : " Regard the love of 
thy children, O Tirawa ! However poor, all that they pos- 
sess is thine, and they give it to thee. Grant us an abun- 
dant harvest. Fill our hunting grounds with buffalo, deer, 
stags and antelope. Make us powerful against our ene- 
mies, so that we may again renew this great sacrifice." 
Each one replies by the usual exclamation : " Neva ! Neva ! 
Neva!" 



\ 



THE VICTIM IS INTERESTED. 985 

After the return of the collector of colors, and before 
sunrise, the last scene commences. Men and women, boys 
and girls, daub themselves in all the colors and forms 
imaginable. They deck themselves in whatever they pos- 
sess which in their estimation is either beautiful or precious 
— pearls, beads, porcelain collars, the claws of the white 
[grizzly] bear, (this is in their view the most costly and 
valuable decoration) bracelets and pendants; nothing is 
forgotten on this occasion. They ornament their hair with 
the feathers of the heron, and of the gray eagle, a bird 
superstitiously venerated by them. Thus equipped for their 
sortie, they listen attentively for the first signal to the sac- 
rifice. 

While these preparations are in progress, the Tewaar- 
ouchte, a religious band of distinguished warriors, known 
in the procession by the down of swans upon their hair or 
upon the tops of their heads, and by their naked bodies 
painted in red and black lines, follow the braves of the 
nation armed with their bows and arrows, which are sed- 
ulously concealed beneath their buffalo robes. Thus they ap- 
proach the lodge where the unconscious victim awaits, as 
she thinks, the happy moment for the festivities given in 
her honor to commence. She is now delivered into the 
hands of her executioners, dressed in the beautiful cos- 
tume of the previous day, with the addition of cords tied 
to her wrists and ankles. The poor child is all interest 
and in a kind of impatience to participate in the grand fes- 
tivities. She smiles as she looks round upon the most cruel 
and the most revengeful enemies of her race. Not the 
slightest agitation, fear or suspicion is visible in her man- 
ner. She walks with joy and confidence in the midst of 
her executioners. Arrived at the fatal spot, a frightful 
presentiment flashes across her mind. There is no one of 
her own sex present. In vain do her eyes wander from 
place to place, in order to find the evidences of a feast. 
Why that solitary fire? And those three posts, which she 
herself drew from the forest, and which she saw fastened 



986 SHE IS TIED TO THE POST. 

between two trees, and those swarthy figures of the war- 
riors, what can they mean ? All, all indicate some dreadful 
project. They order her to mount the three posts. She 
hesitates, she trembles as an innocent lamb prepared for 
the slaughter. She weeps most bitterly and with a voice the 
most touching, such as must have broken any other hearts 
than those of these savage men, she implores them not to 
kill her. 

With a persuasive tone they endeavor to convince her 
that their intention is not to injure her, but that the cere- 
monies in which she participates are indispensable before 
the grand feast. One of the most active of the savages 
unrolls the cords tied to her wrists and assists her to mount 
the post. He passes the cords over the branches of the 
two trees, between which the sacrifice is to be made. These 
are rendered firm by the powerful arms of the other sav- 
ages, and her feet immediately fastened to the topmost of 
the three posts, which she had unconsciously cut and drawn 
to the fatal spot. On the instant all doubt of their inten- 
tions vanishes from her mind. The savages no longer con- 
ceal from her their frightful project. She cries aloud, she 
weeps, she prays ; but her supplications, her tears and her 
prayers are alike drowned in the melee and cry of their 
horrible imprecations against her nation. 

Upon her innocent and devoted head they concentrate 
the full measure of their vengeance, of all the cruelties, of 
all the crimes, of all the injustice and cruelty of the Sioux, 
which may have taken place in their most cruel and pro- 
tracted wars, and which from time immemorial had been 
transmitted from father to son as a precious heritage of 
vengeance and resentment. In a manner the most furious 
and most triumphant they exult with leaping and howling, 
like wild beasts, around their trembling victim. They 
then despoil her of all her ornaments and of her dress, 
^vhen the chief of the sacrifice approaches and paints one- 
half of her body black and the other half red, the colors 
of their victims. He then scorches her armpits and sides 



EXECUTION BY ARROWS. 987 

with a pine-knot torch. After these preparatory rites, he 
gives the signal to the whole tribe, who make the air re- 
sound with the terrible war-cry, the Sassaskwi. At this 
piercing cry, which freezes the heart with terror, which 
paralyzes the timid and rouses the ardor of the brave, which 
confounds the buffalo in his course, and fills the bear with 
such fear as to take from him all the power of resisting or 
fleeing from his enemies, the savages, impatient and greedy 
for blood, issue from their dark lodges. Like a terrific 
hurricane they rush headlong to the fatal spot. Their 
cries, mingled with the noise of their feet, resemble the 
roar of thunder, increasing as the storm approaches. As 
a swarm of bees surround their queen, these Pawnee sav- 
ages encompass the Sioux child — their trembling victim. 
In the twinkling of an eye, their bows are bent and their 
arrows adjusted to the cords. The arrow of Lecharou- 
tetewarouchte, or chief of the sacrifice, is the only one which 
is barbed with iron. With this it is his province to pierce 
the heart of the innocent Dakota. A profound silence 
reigns for an instant among the ferocious band. No sound 
breaks the awful stillness save the sobs and piteous moans 
of the victim, who hangs trembling in the air, while the 
chief of the sacrifice makes a last offering of her to the 
Master of the Universe. At that moment he transfixes her 
through the heart — upon the instant a thousand murderous 
arrows quiver in the body of the poor child. Her whole 
body is one shapeless mass, riddled with arrows as nu- 
merous as are the quills upon the back of the porcupine. 

While the howling and the dancing continue, the great 
chief of the nation, mounting the three posts in triumph, 
plucks the arrows from the dead body and casts them into 
the fire. The iron-barbed arrow is the only one preserved 
for future sacrifices. He then squeezes the blood from 
the mangled flesh upon the maize and other seeds, which 
stand around in baskets ready to be planted ; and then, as 
the last act of this cruel and bloody sacrifice, he plucks the 
still palpitating heart from the body, and, heaping the 



988 THE SIOUX TAKE VENGEANCE. 

fiercest imprecations upon the enemies of his race, devours 
it amidst the shouts and screams of his people. The rite 
is finished. The haughty and satisfied savages move away 
from the scene of their awful tragedy; they pass the re- 
mainder of the day in feasts and merriment. The mur- 
dered and deformed body hangs where it was immolated, 
a prey to wolves and carnivorous birds. I will end this 
painful tragedy, by giving you an extract of a former letter. 

" Such horrid cruelties could not but bring down the 
wrath of heaven upon their nation. As soon as the report of 
the sacrifice reached the Sioux, they burned with the desire 
to avenge their honor, and bound themselves by oaths that 
they would not rest until they had killed as many Pawnees 
as their innocent victim had bones or joints in her body. 
More than 100 Pawnees have at length fallen under their 
tomahawks, and their oaths have since been still more 
amply fulfilled in the massacre of their wives and children. 

" In view of so much cruelty, who could mistake the 
agency of the arch enemy of mankind, and who would re- 
fuse to exert himself to bring these benighted nations to 
the knowledge of the One only true Mediator between God 
and man, and of the only true sacrifice without which it is 
impossible to appease the Divine justice?" 

With sentiments of respect and esteem, etc. 



CHAPTER V. 



The Snakes and Utes — Poverty and degradation — Enslavement of 
children by Spanish — Cannibalism — The wealthy Nez Perces — The 
decent Cayuses and the Camas root — The interesting Flatheads — 
Other tribes — Further account of the Flatheads and their country — • 
Neighboring tribes. 

'^'HE Utes, a tribe of the Snakes, burn their relatives' 
^^ bodies, with the best horses that the dead man owned. 
The body is placed, with the horses, after cutting their 
throats, upon a big pile of dry wood. When the smoke 
rises in eddies, they think the soul of the Indian takes its 
flight to the land of spirits, borne by his faithful steeds; 
and to excite them to soar more swiftly, they all together 
give utterance to frightful howls. 

The Sampeetches, Pah-Utes and Yam-pah-Utes are the 
nearest neighbors to the Snakes. There is not, very likely, 
in all the universe, a more miserable, more degraded and 
poorer people. The French commonly call them Ics Dignes- 
de-pitie, or those who deserve to be pitied, and the name 
suits them admirably. The land they inhabit is a veritable 
waste. They lodge in crevices of the rocks, or in holes 
dug in the earth ; they have no clothing ; their only weapons 
are a bow, arrows and a pointed stick ; they range the barren 
plains in search of ants and grasshoppers, on which they 
feed, and they think it a feast when they come upon a few- 
tasteless roots or nauseous grains. 

Respectable and credible persons have assured me that 
they eat the corpses of their kindred, and sometimes even 
their own children. Their number is unknown, for they 
are seldom seen more than two, three or four together. 

1 From Father De Smet's account of his journey to the Flatheads 
in 1840. Translated from Voyages aux Montagues Rocheuses, pp. 31-35. 

[989] 



990 THE MOST PITIABLE INDIANS. 

They are so timid that a stranger would have a good deal 
of trouble to approach them. As soon as they espy one.. 
Vv'hether white man or Indian, they give the alarm by light- 
ing a hoiican or wood-smoke; the next moment, the signal 
ii> repeated wherever one of them may be. More than 
400 have been counted at once, running at this signal to 
hide in the inaccessible rocks; whence it is presumed that 
they are very numerous. When they go out to hunt for 
roots and ants, they hide their young ones in the brush or 
in holes in the rocks. Now and then some of them will 
venture to leave their hiding-places and come to find the 
v/hites, to sell them their children for trifles. Sometimes 
the Spanish of California make incursions into their country 
to carry off their children. I have been assured that they 
treat them with humanity, give them religious instruction, 
and grant them their liberty as soon as they reach a cer- 
tain age, or else keep them in a sort of slavery, intrusting 
to them the care of their horses or making them work on 
their farms. I have had the consolation of baptizing several 
of these wretched creatures; they too have given me the 
same account. It would be easy to find guides among these 
new converts, and by this means one could introduce him- 
self among those poor forsaken creatures, teach them the 
consoling news of the gospel and render their lot, if not 
happier on earth, better at least for the hope of a future 
of eternal happiness. If God grants me the grace to return 
to the mountains, and my superiors permit me, I shall gladly 
devote myself to the conversion of these miserable and truly 
pitiable men. 

The country of the Utahs is situated east and southeast 
from that of the Shoshones, upon the sources of the Rio 
Colorado [Green river] ; there are about 4,000 of them. 
They seem gentle and affable, very polite and hospitable 
to strangers, and charitable among themselves. They live 
by hunting and fishing and on fruits and roots, spontaneous 
products of their territory. There is nothing extraordinary 



SOME MORE RESPECTABLE TRIBES. 99 1 

about their raiment ; their manners are of great simplicity. 
It is a warm land, the climate is favorable, and the soil 
very well suited to cultivation. 

Proceeding toward the north, one comes to the Nez 
Perces. There are places in their country very fertile and 
well adapted to agriculture; also vast and rich grazing 
lands. These Indians own a great number of horses ; some 
have as many as 500 or 600. The nation of the Nez 
Perces contains near 2,500 inhabitants. Though there are 
Protestant ministers among them, from reports which they 
themselves have made, as well as conversations I have had 
with several of the chiefs, it is clear that they would be 
charmed to have Catholic missionaries. 

On the west of the Nez Perces are the Cayuses, decent, 
peaceable and hospitable. There are upward of 2,000 of 
them. Their wealth, like that of the Nez Perces, consists in 
horses, but of the best stock in the mountains. A great 
part of their territory is very fertile, and produces in great 
abundance a certain root called Kajiiniache,^ whereof they 
make bread, and which, with fish and game, forms their hab- 
itual fare. 

The Walla Wallas dwell upon the river of the same name, 
one of the tributaries of the Columbia, and their country 
also extends along that river. They number about 500. 
Their character, customs and habits differ in no respect 
from those of the savages just named. 

The Paloos tribe belongs to the nation of the Nez Perces 
and resembles them in all respects. It inhabits the borders 
of the Nez Perces and Pavilion rivers. There are scarce 
300 of them. 

The four nations that I have just named speak the same 
tongue, with slight differences of dialect. 

Northwest of the Palooses is found the nation of the 
Spokans. They are nearly 800 persons. Several small 
tribes, who may be considered as belonging to the same 

2 Camas (camassia esciilciita). 



99^ FLATHEADS THE MOST INTERESTING. 

nation, stay in that neighborhood. Their country is di- 
versified by mountains and vaheys, some portions of which 
are very fertile. They call themselves Children of the Sun, 
which in their language is Spokani. Their main subsist- 
ence is fishing and hunting, roots and fruits. East of them 
are the Cc^xxr d'Alenes, about 700 souls. They are distin- 
guished by their civility, decency and kindness. Their 
land is more open than that of the Spokans and better 
suited to cultivation. 

The land of my dear Flatheads is still farther east and 
southeast and reaches to the Rocky Mountains. This tribe 
is unquestionably the most interesting in all Oregon. Frank, 
noble and generous in their dispositions, they have always 
shown great good will toward the whites, and a great de- 
sire for a knowledge of the Christian religion. They are 
about 800 in number; they lead a nomadic life; they hunt 
the buffalo upon the Clark and Salmon rivers; and every 
spring they cross the mountains and come as far down as 
the junction of the three forks of the Missouri. This nation 
has been greatly reduced by the continual attacks of the 
Blackfeet. Though they are of great bravery, they are very 
peaceable in their dispositions, and to avoid their enemies, 
they desire to settle permanently upon their lands. They are 
awaiting the return of our missionaries to execute this 
praiseworthy design. " To cultivate the soil and live as 
good and fervent Christians, such," they say, " is the object 
of our desires." Their country is mountainous, but inter- 
spersed with smiling and fertile valleys, very rich in grazing 
lands. The mountains are cold, covered with snow during a 
great part of the year ; but in the valleys the climate is mild. 

The Ponderas, commonly called the Pend d'Oreilles, are 
like the Flatheads in body, character, disposition, manners, 
customs and language ; at present they form with them only 
one and the same people. Their number amounts to more 
than 1,200. They dwell north of Clark's Fork and upon 
the shores of a lake that bears their name. Their country 
includes some very fertile spots. They are awaiting our re- 



THE WHOLESOME SAVAGE LIFE. 993 

turn with impatience, to begin cultivating them and to 
continue hving together with the Flatheads, beneath the 
holy law of the gospel, which I have had the happiness of 
preaching to them for three months, and to which they have 
all submitted with the greatest eagerness and docility. 

I think you will not read without interest a short account 
of my stay among them and of my excursions in their com- 
pany. Do not be surprised at my having led the wan- 
dering life of a savage from the month of April to Decem- 
ber, living by hunting and on roots, without bread, sugar 
or coffeC;' my only bed a buffalo robe and a woolen blanket, 
passing my nights under the stars when the weather was 
good and braving the storms and tempests under a little 
tent. I have mentioned a fever that I had, which seemed de- 
termined not to leave me; well, by leading this hard life, 
I rid myself of it entirely ; I have been in wonderful health 
since September. 



Honorable and Dear Sir:^ 

To comply with your kind request of giving you an out- 
line of the upper Indians on the waters of the Columbia 
with whom we have become acquainted, I have the honor 

to state : 

I St. With regard to the Flatheads. Their number 
amounts to about 550. Since the regulation of marriages 
no Christian principles have been introduced among them. 
They are visibly on the increase. The Flatheads may be 
called a grave, modest and decent people. The gross vices 
so common among many other nations are unknown among 
them. Adultery is of the rarest occurrence and their hon- 
esty has been ever acknowledged by all travelers and stran- 
gers who have visited their country. Any object found is 
immediately restored to the owner, if known; if not, it is 
deposited with the chief or Black-robe. 

3 Uncertain to whom this letter was addressed. About 1845. 
63 



994 SOME PRIZE VEGETABLES. 

Their piety is truly moving. They listen with the great- 
est attention to the word of God. The chiefs are held in 
great esteem and their counsels are generally followed. 
Their charity toward the old and infirm is very great. 
The name of orphan is unknown among them. Immedi- 
ately after the death of their parents they are adopted by 
relations and friends and they take their place and share 
among the children of the family. They love and esteem 
the whites highly, and glory and take pride that they never 
spilt a drop of the white man's blood. Frequently have 
they been seen to expose their own existence to save the 
life of their beloved Boston (American). 

Though not habituated, they may be said to love labor 
and may easily be brought over to learn to till the soil. The 
climate is very healthy. Among them epidemics, bilious 
complaints and fevers of all descriptions are almost entirely 
unknown. 

The long summer droughts are an obstacle to agricul- 
ture, however. The numerous mountain rivulets and 
springs may remedy this inconvenience in the immediate 
neighborhood of the different water-courses. The soil is 
good and fertile and St. Mary's valley (or Racine Amere) 
which extends for about 200 miles, from northwest to 
southeast, might by irrigation become very productive. 
The mountains are almost entirely covered with red and 
white pine and cedar ; the poplar is found in great and dense 
clusters along the main streams. In 1844 forty bushels of 
potatoes produced upward of 900 bushels. I have seen 
several potatoes of the size of a man's head. The astonish- 
ment of the good Indians was raised to the highest pitch 
when the monstrous roots were taken out of the ground. 
All thanked God and promised to work, and all assisted 
with delight at the first great potato feast in the heart of 
the Rocky Mountains. Carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, all 
sorts of vegetable roots grow here in abundance and of 
an excellent quality. 



BUFFALO ALWAYS MORE SCARCE. 995 

Owing to the great want of tools and to the difficulties 
of procuring them, the Indians have been till now in the 
necessity of making a summer and winter hunt to procure 
provisions and clothing by means of the buffalo chase and 
of other animals, such as the elk, the moose, the mountain 
sheep, the red fox and black-tailed deer, the antelope and 
the bear. 

Buffalo and beaver are becoming every year more scarce 
and will soon fail them altogether. We hope the provi- 
dence of God will come to their relief and that means will 
be found to procure them implements and tools to settle 
them permanently at St. Mary's, the village and spot they 
have chosen for their abode. 

A school has been commenced at which all the children 
attend during their stay at the village. One of the mis- 
sionaries having found excellent dispositions for music 
among the Flathead youth, has formed a musical band 
who play with great ease and harmony passages from the 
best composers. 

2d. The upper Kalispels or Pend d'Oreilles. The coun- 
try of these Indians consists principally in forests and 
plains. The upper valley above the great Flathead lake 
appears to be very rich in soil and very productive and con- 
tains a great number of beautiful plains, among which the 
Camas and Horse plains are the most conspicuous. From 
below the latter to the head of the Kalispel lake, a distance 
of about 100 miles, Clark's river is lined with almost im- 
penetrable forests, inaccessible rocks and mountains, and 
runs on over many ledges of rocks, forming falls and rapids, 
rendering its navigation very dangerous even to small skiffs 
and canoes, and impossible to larger crafts. At the head 
of the above lake cedars are found in abundance, measuring 
from thirty to fifty feet in circumference. 

The Kalispels speak the same language as the Flatheads; 
their dispositions and customs are the same ; they arc 
equally as honest and as docile. An establishment is im- 



996 THE PERFIDIOUS BLACKFEET. 

mediately to be commenced among them, and we have the 
assurance that their aptitude for agriculture will even sur- 
pass that of their neighbors. Their number amounts to 
about 600 souls. They have hitherto subsisted by the 
buffalo chase and other small animals. 

3d. The lower Kalispels. Probity, generosity, docility, 
the love of labor, great courage and piety are among the 
characteristics of this tribe and in as eminent a degree as 
their brethren from the upper country. They live on roots, 
by fishing and by the chase of the small animals such as 
deer, with herds of which their native mountains are 
crowded. By means of a few hoes and spades we procured 
them, they raised last year upward of 400 bags of potatoes, 
to which, however, they would have no recourse in winter. 
They kept the whole for seed for the next season. By means 
of plows and more hoes all were planted last spring and the 
harvest appears to be very promising. A few open prairies 
of rather limited extent appear to be very rich in soil and 
procure beautiful grazing. The winter is here very disa- 
greeable; it snows almost constantly. Last winter there 
was never less than from two to four feet of snow in the 
lower prairies. On this account the raising of cattle will 
here be more difficult. 

The Kalispels of the lower country number as many souls 
as their brethren from above. 

The Kalispels and Flatheads have the Blackfeet for neigh- 
bors and enemies. However great the perfidy and treach- 
ery of the latter, they allow them to pass unmolested, but 
resist manfully every attack or aggression coming from the 
Blackfeet. It is a common saying in the mountains that 
in battle one Flathead or Kalispel is worth five of his ene- 
mies. The Blackfeet know it, for they never hazard a 
combat unless they are superior in numbers to their foes. 
Notwithstanding their great wickedness and cruelty, there 
appears to be a change for the better among them. Many 
have expressed a longing desire to be visited by the Black- 



THE CCEUR d'alI:NE VALLEY. 997 

robes. Till now they have respected the property of the mis- 
sionaries among the Flatheads. A missionary will soon 
penetrate into their extensive country. 

4th. The Cceur d'Alenes or Pointed Hearts. The Cceur 
d'Alenes owe their name to their former cruelly and treach- 
ery toward the whites; at present they are of a mild and 
Christian-like disposition and have listened and embraced 
with great eagerness the word of God. They inhabit the 
borders of the great lake which bears their name and from 
whence the Spokan river flows. They extend their wig- 
wams up two beautiful valleys for about seventy miles, 
interspersed with small ponds and lakes, forests and plains. 
These valleys are watered by two large and deep forks, 
nourishing the great lake, and they in their turn receive 
the waters of innumerable streams and torrents descending 
from the lofty Coeur d'Alene Mountains. A waterfall a 
few miles below prevents in a great measure the discharge 
of the upper waters. If this obstacle could be conquered, 
and I believe a few kegs of powder would effect it, the two 
Cceur d'Alene valleys would become the most delightful 
portions of the mountains. The vegetable soil lies several 
feet deep and is most productive; winters are mild and 
grass is plenty. At present the frequent inundations dur- 
ing the spring and fall render it almost altogether useless. 
The Indians, however, succeeded last year in raising upward 
of 1,200 bags of potatoes; some families had each upward 
of 100 bags. We have procured them a great number of 
hoes, and the result proves that these have not been idle 
in their hands. They number upward of 500 souls. Un- 
til more tools and plows can be procured they have to live 
as yet for a great part of the year by fishing, hunting, and 
digging the edible roots which the kind providence of God 
has so liberally bestowed on the lands of the poor Indians. 
A church and several houses have already been built on the 
spot for a village. The language of the Coeur d'Alenes 
differs greatly from the Kalispels. 



99^ THE KOOTENAI COUNTRY. 

5th. Flatbow and Kootenai Indians, The Kootenai lan- 
guage is altogether different from the language of the 
above-mentioned tribes. It resembles rather the language 
of the Blackfeet. They are good and docile and show the 
greatest kindness and hospitality to all whites who happen to 
visit their country. They have made frequent applications 
for Black-robes and a mission is about to be opened among 
them. Their country is very mountainous, and thic»:ly 
covered with timber ; it offers but few suitable spots f ;r 
agriculture. The great Kootenai lake abounds in fish. A 
kind of sturgeon of an enormous size, from eight to twelve 
feet, is frequently caught in it. Moose, elk, the different 
kinds of deer, the mountain sheep, the beaver and the otter 
are as yet very numerous in their country. 

We have introduced already in our different stations of 
the upper Oregon upward of sixty head of cattle, a number 
of hogs and poultry. All are thriving well and are taken 
good care of by the Indians. 



u 



CHAPTER VI. 

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE INDIANS. 

What the savages wore — A brilliant princess — Love of ornament — 
Light attire of boys — Cleanliness not a virtue — Domestic arts — The 
Great Spirit — Warfare and gambling — Management of babies — 
Training of boys and girls— The pipe, its significance and uses — 
Delaware tradition. 

Indian Costumes} 

HE costume of the men consists of a colored shirt; a 
woolen blanket, white, red or blue : a pair of leggins 
or gaiters, of red or blue cloth, adorned with silk ribbons of 
various colors ; an azeciin, or small piece of blue cloth passed 
between the legs : slippers of tanned deer skin, adorned with 
beads and silk ribbons : a bead necklace or a silver crescent, 
or both together, are often worn, with four or five brace- 
lets of silver on each arm. Ear-rings are common to both 
sexes. They always carry a big knife in a sheath, attached 
to a belt which at the same time supports the aseeiin and the 
leggins. The head is decorated with a band of tanned 
hide, which holds back the hair and has feathers stuck in 
it. This piece is often omitted. The hair is worn very 
long. Every Indian has two braids, one of which hangs 
over his face and the other down behind; they are gen- 
erally adorned with little silver trinkets or with silk rib- 
bons or feathers. They use various colors to paint their 
faces. A young man who is a recognized hunter, capable 
of supporting himself, carries a calumet or pipe and a 
skipetagun or tobacco-bag. This bag is usually made of 
the entire skin of some animal, as the otter, beaver or lynx. 

1 A hitherto unpublished fragment dating from the Potawatomi 
period in 1838-9. 

[999I 



lOOO WHAT A PRINCESS WORE. 

with the hair left on. Besides the tobacco it contains a 
small piece of steel, a fire-stone and a scrap of punk. 

On the occasion of the annuities which are paid every 
year to the Pawnees, all the chiefs come to Bellevue, near 
Council Bluffs, to receive them. Here is the costume of 
their women for 1839. The women dress practically alike 
among all the different nations around us. 

Mademoiselle " Pack-Up-and-Get," (that is her name) 
eldest daughter of the Prince Big Axe, wore for coiffure, 
when she made her appearance in the great council lodge, 
the principal feather of the right wing of a female goose 
and a bandeau of blue beads interlaced with small cords. 
Her shirt of crimson curtain cloth was fastened at the neck 
with a deer's foot and pizzle, and adorned with seven sil- 
ver spangles, which might be worth in Belgium a franc 
apiece. The draperies of this garment descended gracefully 
to the loins, covering her blue petticoat, which hung to her 
knees. Her leggins or gaiters were decorated with fig- 
ures, worked in porcupine quills and embroidered with sky- 
blue silk. A blue bed-blanket was thrown negligently over 
the princess' shoulders. 

Her Royal Grandeur's moccasins were adorned with lit- 
tle beads of assorted colors, ingeniously worked in the form 
of toads (crapaux). She had employed a great profusion 
of vermilion to add to the natural pink of her complexion, 
while Spanish brown and Venetian red had been mingled to 
paint her hair where it was parted in front. This long 
growth, the princess' natural ornament, did not cover her 
shoulders, but was plaited and tied together on the back 
of her head, as if to display a real and positive phrenological 
bump. 

The princess had been prodigal in her toilet of that per- 
fume so much admired by the Indians, the essence of the 
skunk, the odor of which is insupportable to civilized noses, 
and which announced her approach to the assembly, even 
before her form appeared. Her pedigree or totem was 
easily distinguishable by the figure of a tortoise painted 



PAINT AND OTHER DECORATIONS. lOOI 

on her blanket. A black and blue spot above the left eye- 
brow, which the princess had received from the mule of her 
father, as she was attaching a bundle upon his back, ap- 
peared to render her countenance the more interesting. 

^Let us now say a few words concerning the manners and 
customs of the Indian nations of the West in general. In 
all the mountain tribes the costume is nearly the same. 
The men wear a very long tunic of the skin of the antelope 
or bighorn ; leggins of buckskin or dogskin ; shoes of the 
same material, and a mantle of buffalo skin or a red, blue, 
green or white flannel blanket. The seams of their gar- 
ments are adorned with long fringes; they clean them by 
rubbing them with white earth (it is the soap of the sav- 
ages). The Indian loves to pile ornament upon orna- 
ment ; he attaches plumes of every kind to his long hair ; the 
eagle feather always occupies the principal place; it is the 
great medicine bird, the Manitou or guardian spirit of the 
savage warrior. They attach besides all sorts of trinkets, 
ribbons of all colors, rings, shells and ornaments of bone. 
They wear on their necks collars of pearls interlaced witl; 
apocoins (an oblong shell that they pick up on the shore 
of the Pacific ocean) . In the morning, all wash themselves ; 
but for lack of a towel they make use of an end of their 
tunic. Then every one returns to his lodge to make his 
toilet ; that is, to rub his face, hair, arms and chest with 
bear's grease, over which they spread a thick layer of ver- 
milion, which gives them a wild and hideous aspect; I 
often thought, when I met them, of those bloated visages 
that are called in Belgium vagcfiicrs gcdchtcn (purgatory 
faces). Boys of seven to ten years wear a sort of dalmatica 
of skins, embroidered with porcupine quills and open at 
both sides, which gives these little fellows an altogether 
singular appearance, without breeches or shirt. Under the 
age of seven, they have nothing to cover them during sum- 

- From Father De Smet's narrative of his journey to the Flatheads in 
1840. Translated from Voyages aux Montagnes Rocheuses, pp. 49-54. 



I002 AN UNSAV^ORY BRANCH OF THE CHASE. 

mer; they pass whole days in playing in the water or the 
mire; in winter they are lapped in scraps of leather. The 
women cover themselves with a big cape, ornamented with 
elk-teeth and rows of pearls of various colors. This at- 
tire makes a handsome effect, on a white and clean skin. 
A savage takes as great pains in decorating his courser as 
with his own person; the animal's head, chest and flanks 
are covered with hangings of scarlet cloth, embroidered 
with pearls and adorned with long fringes, to which they 
attach little bells. 

It may be said in general that cleanliness is not among 
the virtues of the savage; it took me some time to become 
used to them; it will very likely take me more to correct 
them. Excuse me for going here into some rather disgust- 
ing details ; any one who thinks himself called to these 
missions ought to know what he is to meet. I have seen 
the Cheyennes, Snakes, Utes, etc., eat vermin off each other 
by the fistfull. Often great chiefs, while they talked to me, 
would pull off their shirt in my presence without ceremony, 
and while they chatted would amuse themselves with carry- 
ing on this branch of the chase in the seams. As fast as 
they dislodged the game, they crunched it with as much 
relish as more civilized mouths crack almonds and hazel- 
nuts or the claws of crabs and crawfishes. Their pots, ket- 
tles and dishes, unless they fall in the water by accident, 
never touch that element to be washed. The women wear 
? sort of rimless hats, made of straw, very close-woven and 
gummed ; in their lodges, these hats serve them as drinking 
vessels and soup dishes, and, what will seem incredible to 
you at first sight, they make use of them even to boil meat 
in ; it is by the aid of heated pebbles that water is made to 
boil in this sort of pot. 

The great ambition of the savage and all his wealth con- 
sist in having horses, a fine lodge, a good blanket or cloak 
and a good gun. Beyond these, there is hardly anything 
that can tempt him. The only advantage that his horses 



TANNING AND OTHER ARTS. IOO3 

are to him is that in the chase he can kill as many buffalo 
as he wishes and bring away a great deal of meat. 

The Indians are very skilful in tanning the skins of ani- 
mals. They remove the flesh with an iron tool with teeth, 
and the hair with a little pick ; then the skin is rubbed with 
the animal's brains and becomes very soft and workable. 
They are no less handy in making their bows, of a very 
elastic wood or of the horn of the deer; their arrows are 
made of a heavy wood and furnished with iron tips or with 
a lance-shaped stone; it is astonishing what they will do 
with these weapons. The horns of the bighorn and buffalo 
serve them for making cups, dishes and excellent spoons; 
they soften the horn by cooking it in hot ashes, and thus 
give it all sorts of forms ; as it cools it recovers its first hard- 
ness. They make good baskets from willow, bark or straw. 

In general, the mountain Indians admit the existence of 
a Supreme Being, the Great Spirit, Creator of all things, the 
immortality of the soul and a future life, where man is re- 
warded or punished according to his deserts. These are 
the principal points of their belief. Their religious ideas 
are very limited. They believe that the Great Spirit di- 
rects all important events, that he is the author of all good 
and consequently alone worthy of adoration ; that by their 
evil conduct they draw on themselves his indignation and 
wrath, and that he sends them calamities to punish them. 
They say further that the soul enters the other world with 
the same form that the body bore upon earth. They imag- 
ine that their happiness will consist in the enjoyment of 
abundance of those things which they have most highly 
prized during life, that the sources of their present hap- 
piness will be extended to the point of perfection, and that 
the punishment of the wicked will consist in a deprivation 
of all happiness, while the demon will overwhelm them with 
frightful miseries. This belief in eternal happiness and 
sorrow varies according to the circumstances of their earthly 
life. 

The savages on the west of the mountains are very peace- 



I004 THE MAGNANIMOUS FLATHEADS. 

able and rarely make war among themselves; they never 
fight but in self-defense. It is only with the Blackfeet, 
who dwell to the east, that they often have bloody encoun- 
ters. These marauders are always on the march, robbing 
and killing those whom they meet. When the western 
Indians espy this enemy, they avoid him if it is possible; 
but if they are compelled to fight, they show a firm and in- 
vincible courage and charge upon .heir foes with the great- 
est impetuosity. They rush pell-mell upon them uttering 
their war-cry, discharge their shots and their arrows, lay 
about them with lance, sword or club, withdraw to reload, 
return to the charge and brave death in the most cold- 
blooded manner. They repeat these attacks until the vic- 
tory is decided. It is commonly said in the mountains that 
one Flathead or Pend d'Oreille is worth four Blackfeet ; 
when a party of the latter meets one of the Flatheads, equal 
or superior in numbers, the Blackfoot at once manifests a 
desire for peace, displays a flag and presents his calumet. 
The Flathead chief always accepts, but he does not fail to 
let his enemy understand that he knows what to think of his 
peaceful intentions. " Blackfoot," he says, " I accept your 
calumet ; but I know very well that your heart desires war, 
and that your hand is defiled with murder ; but I love peace. 
Let us smoke, since you offer me the calumet, though I am 
sure that there will soon be fresh bloodshed." 

Horse-racing and gambling are among the dominant pas- 
sions of the Indians, as I have mentioned above. The In- 
dians of the Columbia have carried gambling to the utter- 
most. After having lost everything that they have, they 
stake themselves, first one hand, then the other; if they lose 
these, they put up their arms and so on with all the members 
of their bodies ; the head follows, and if they lose that they 
become slaves for life, with their wives and children. 

The government of an Indian tribe is in the hands of 
the chiefs, who attain that office by merit or by exploits. 
Their power consists solely in their influence ; it is great or 
little in proportion to the wisdom, benevolence and courage 



AUTHORITY BY FAIR MEANS. IOO5 

that they have displayed. The chief does not exercise his 
authority by command but by persuasion. He never levies 
taxes ; on the contrary, he is so much in the habit of giving 
away his own property, as well to aid a needy individual as 
to further the public good, that he is ordinarily one of the 
poorest in the village. His authority is notwithstanding 
very great; his wishes are carried out as soon as they are 
known; his advice is generally followed. H any one is un- 
reasonably obstinate, the voice of the nation quickly brings 
him to order. I know of no government that allows so great 
personal liberty, and in which there is at the same time so 
little of anarchy and so much subordination and devotion. 

I have still a word to say of some Indian tribes, neigh- 
bors of the Flatheads and Pend d'Oreilles. North of these 
last are found the Kootenais; they live on McGillivray's 
[Kootenai] river, and are represented to be a very interest- 
ing people. Their language is different from that of their 
neighbors, being very sonorous and open, free from gut- 
turals. They are clean, honest and affable and about i,ooo 
in number. 

There are several other savage tribes upon the northwest 
fork of the Columbia, which resemble each other in customs, 
morals, manners and language. The principal ones are 
as follows : On the north of the Kootenais are the Carriers, 
about 4,000 souls ; south of these, the Lake Indians, 500 in 
number, dwelling on Arrow lake. Still farther south are 
the Kettles, about 600. West of these are found the Sin- 
pavelist [?], to the number of 1,000; farther down the 
Shooswaps, 600 souls ; west and northwest, the Okinagans, 
1,100; and to the north and west are still different nations, 
of which I have only been able to obtain vague information. 

Educatio}!. 
^ You ask " when you may hope to see me in Belgium 
again ? " I have a very long journey ahead of me, but 

^ From a letter of Father De Smet to his niece in February, 1851, 
written in French. 



I006 CARE OF INDIAN BABIES. 

toward the antipodes of Belgium — the only answer I can 
give you is to quote from the old '' Malbrouck " — " Dieu 
sait quand il viendra " — you know the rest. * * * You 
expect, no doubt, that I will tell you something about the 
savages of America. Here is how they stand in regard to 
education, which I know 6 a matter that interests you. 
Th^ only school in which the Indian youth learn to form 
their head and heart, is the example of their elders. They 
give them no preceptors. In the family, the father has 
charge of the boys, the mother of the girls, and the old 
proverb, " like father like son," applies more strictly among 
the Indians than anywhere else. In general, great attention 
is paid to the physical development of the children and they 
are prepared from their tenderest infancy for the hardest 
kind of life. As soon as the child is born, in whatever 
season, regardless of the severest cold or the greatest heat, 
they at once plunge it several times into water. Then, suit- 
ably wrapped up, it is placed and entrusted in the hands 
of some other nurse than its mother. After the first week 
the parents take it back, and it is put into the cradle, or 
berceau — a machine that deserves to be patented, and 
which, the little individual does not leave until he is able 
to walk. This is the simple construction of it — a small 
hide-covered board, about a foot longer than its little oc- 
cupant. The child is placed upon it and tied tightly with 
bandages, beginning with the legs and covering it to the 
shoulders ; they are made tightest about the loins and the pit 
of the stomach, in order to force out the chest as much as 
possible. Neatly arranged in this style, the little party 
occupies a place in the lodge, out of harm's way. When the 
weather is fine, he is set in the doorway of the lodge. If 
the nurse goes away, she hangs the cradle to the branch of 
a tree, where the baby warms himself tranquilly in the sun, 
or on hot days is in the shade, and is in no danger from dogs, 
wolves or snakes, which are often plentiful in the neighbor- 
hood. When they travel, the cradle is hung from the sad- 



TRAINING OF BOYS AND GIRLS. IOC/ 

dle-bow, where it is out of the rider's way and offers no 
danger to the httle prisoner. 

After he has learned to walk, and up to the time when he 
can provide for his own subsistence, he remains attached to 
his parents' lodge, doing no hard work. At about the age 
of twelve, he begins to take care of his father's band of 
horses, and to handle the bow or fire-arms in the chase. At 
sixteen or eighteen he is invested with the honors and re- 
sponsibilities of the warrior ; he shares the labors and takes 
part in all the amusements of the village elders. The girls 
enjoy no such liberty as do the boys. They are early made 
to help their mother in all her labors; they cut and bring 
in firewood, help prepare the food, which is no small matter 
among the Indians, who often dine six or eight times a day ; 
mend and make shoes and garments, with a very great 
number of etceteras, and when a girl is of age, her father 
sells her for a horse or two and she becomes the slave of 
a man to whom very likely she may never have spoken. 



To his Excellency, M. Ed^. Blondeel Van Cuelenhroeck, 
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of 
H. M. the King of the Belgians, Washington, D. C: 

University of St. Louis, Feb. 26, 1862. 

Monsieur le Ministre. — Upon my return to St. Louis, on 
the 22d of this month, I immediately set about fulfilling 
the promise which I had the honor to make you. I have 
just forwarded to you by express four buffalo robes, of 
which one is destined for Monsieur the Minister of France. 
Permit me, Monsieur le Ministre, to seize this occasion to 
express to you my profound gratitude for all your kind- 
nesses toward me on the occasion of my last stay in Wash- 
ington. The remembrance of having had the honor of din- 



I008 SOME INDIAN CURIOSITIES. 

ing at your residence with the great ministers of three great 
powers will ever abide with me. 

The Calumet. 

In addition to the buffalo .'obes, I have sent you my large 
Indian calumet/ which was presented to me by the chiefs 
of the numerous tribe of the Sioux or Dacotahs, inhabiting 
the great plains of the west, together with the pipe-case and 
tobacco-bag, decorated with porcupine quills in the Indian 
fashion ; which I beg you will accept as a little souvenir on 
my part. If I add here a few remarks and reflections and 
the history of the tradition of the Great Indian Calumet, it 
is with the thought, Monsieur le Ministre, that the little 
narration will give you pleasure. 

When the Indians send the calumet to a stranger, it is 
always a notable sign of good will on their part, of friend- 
ship and peace, of respect and gratitude for benefits re- 
ceived. 

On all great occasions, in their religious and political 
ceremonies, and at the great feasts, the calumet presides ; the 
savages send its first fruits, or its first puffs, to the Great 
Waconda, or Master of Life, to the Sun, which gives them 
light, and to the earth and water, by which they are nour- 
ished ; then they direct a puff to each point of the compass, 
begging of heaven all the elements and favorable winds. 

"* On two other occasions Father De Smet presented calumets to 
friends whom he particularly desired to honor. Upon returning from 
his western journey in 1859, he sent to a "benefactor and friend," 
Monsieur Massenhove, of Louvain, Belgium, the large and handsomely 
decorated calumet used by him on that expedition, which was a present 
to him from the head chief of the Yankton Sioux, Ite-ech-tshe, or Cut 
Face; and soon after he wrote to the Reverend P. Matthys of that 
place an account of the use of the instrument, identical with that here 
given Monsieur Blondeel. Again, on April 20, 1862, he wrote his 
nephew Charles and his betrothed, bestowing upon them, with appro- 
priate wishes, his large and handsome calumet, then in the possession 
of Charles' father. 



SOME TOBACCO ERUDITION. IOO9 

His Hobowakan or Calumet is the object which the 
American Indian prizes most highly; he who does not own 
one is in their eyes a very poor wretch. It is very often 
tastefully and ingeniously decorated and carved. There is 
nothing in the customs and usages of the Indians so em- 
phatically characteristic as their peculiarities in the matter 
of smoking. There can be no doubt that it is a very ancient 
custom, as it seems to be the one that enters most largely 
into their habits — it is the Alpha and the Omega of all acts 
to which they attach any importance. Throughout the 
wilderness, wherever you meet Indians, though they may 
be suffering from hunger, the first thing they ask for is 
Sama — tobacco. 

There is no allusion in the holy scriptures to the use of 
tobacco. Herodotus makes no mention of the pipe, nor of 
the custom of smoking. This may perhaps indicate an 
occidental origin for them ; that they are purely American. 
It was in fact in 1560, after the discovery of America, that 
tobacco and the manner of using it were introduced into 
France, by Nicot ; whence the name nicotina. 

According to an ancient tradition of the " Lenni-Len- 
napi," (First People: surnamed Delawares since the arrival 
of the whites) it is reported that they received the great 
calumet of peace and brotherhood in the twentieth moon of 
their existence as a nation. The story told by the elders, or 
conservators of the national traditions, of the occasion of 
the calumet being presented to them, is as follows : 

Far to the North, there existed a powerful nation. Their 
warriors were as many as the unnumbered herds of the 
buffalo upon the vast plains of the West. Their wigwams 
extended farther than the eye could reach, on the shores of 
their fair lakes and the banks of their wide and beautiful 
rivers. The Manitou, whose voice bellows in the clouds 
and is borne upon the wings of the wind to all parts of the 
earth, spoke to this great nation and told them that a rival 
people (the Lenni-Lennapi) held possession of all the coun- 
64 



lOIO DELAWARE LEGEND OF THE CALUMET. 

try, all the forests and plains, from the Big Water in the 
east to the great mountains, behind which every evening 
the sun goes to rest. At this word all the people rose like 
one man, and the great counc'l was at once assembled, to 
deliberate upon the pressing danger which appeared to 
threaten them. It was resolved to invade the land of the 
Lenni-Lennapi with a strong party of their best warriors, 
determined to revel in their enemies' hearts, to adorn them- 
selves with scalps and plunder ravished from them, and to 
force them into the water, there to perish. 

In the midst of their preparations for the great war ex- 
pedition, a large and very beautiful bird, of a dazzling 
whiteness, appeared to them for the first time. It came 
forth from the forest, soared into the air and finally came 
to rest, with outstretched wings, above the head of the only 
daughter of the head chief. Then this girl heard a voice 
speaking from the bottom of her heart, which said to her: 
" Call all the warriors together; make known to them that 
the heart of the Great Spirit is sad, is covered with a dark 
and heavy cloud, because they seek to drink the blood of 
his first-born children, the Lenni-Lennapi, the eldest of all 
the tribes on earth. To appease the anger of the Master 
of Life, and to bring back happiness to his heart, all the 
warriors must wash their hands in the blood of a young 
fawn ; then, loaded with presents, and the Hobowakan in 
their hands, they must go all together and present them- 
selves to their elder brothers; they must distribute their 
gifts, and smoke together the great calumet of peace and 
brotherhood, which is to make them one forever." 

This is the little tradition of the Hobowakan among the 
Lenni-Lennapi, as given me by the son of the head chief 
of the tribe. ^ The calumet presides at all their gatherings, 
in all their councils with their neighbors, at the ratification 
of all their treaties, their religious festivals and friendly 
feasts. Any one who refuses to smoke from the calumet 
is excluded from taking any part and is obliged to withdraw. 

s No doubt Watomika — Reverend Father Beschor, S. J. 



SOME HUNTERS EXPLOITS. lOII 

To refuse to accept the calumet, as between two different 
tribes, is equivalent to a declaration of war, and on the other 
hand, to accept it is always, among the savages, a sign of 
good harmony, fraternity and mutual charity, ready to aid 
one another in case of need. 

It is ciuite probable that I shall return, about the begin- 
ning of May, among my dear children of the plains. 

I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the profoundest 
respect and the most sincere esteem, 

Monsieur le Ministre, etc. 



Reverend Father:^ 

I shall here give you the remarks and observations I 
have made, and the information I have gathered, during 
this last journey, concerning some customs and practices 
of the savages. 

In speaking of the animals, I inquired of seven Flatheads, 
who were present, how many buffalo they had killed be- 
tween them in their last hunt? The number amounted to 
189 — one alone had killed fifty-nine. One of the Flat- 
heads told me of three remarkable coups which had dis- 
tinguished him in that chase. He pursued a cow, armed 
merely with a stone, and killed her by striking her while 
running, between the horns ; he afterward killed a second 
with his knife; and finished his exploits by spearing and 
strangling a large bull. The young warriors frequently ex- 
ercise themselves in this manner, to show their agility, dex- 
terity and strength. He who spoke looked like a Hercules. 
They then (a rare favor, for they are not boasters) kindly 
showed me the scars left by the balls and arrows of the 
Blackfeet in their different encounters. One of them bore 

6 Letter to ca Father of the Society of Jesus, dated St. Mary's, De- 
cember 30, 1841. Published as Letter X, Voyages aux Montagnes- 
Rocheuscs and Letter XL Letters and Sketches. The latter text, which 
is apparently translated from the French, is here followed. 



IOI2 BRIDGER MAKES A JEST. 

the scars of four balls which had pierced his thigh; the 
only consequence of which was a little stiffness of the leg, 
scarcely perceptible. Another had his arm and breast 
pierced by a ball. A third, beside some wounds from a 
knife and spear, had an arrow five inches deep in his belly. 
A fourth had still two balls in his body. One among them, 
a cripple, had his leg broken by a ball sent by an enemy con- 
cealed in a hole ; leaping on one leg he fell upon the Black- 
foot, and the hiding place of the foe became his grave. 
" These Blackfeet," I remarked, " are terrible people." 
The Indian who last spoke replied in the sense of the words 
of Napoleon's grenadier, " Oui, mais ils meurent vite 
apres." I expressed a desire to know the medicines which 
they used in such cases ; they, much surprised at my ques- 
tion, replied, laughing, " we apply nothing to our wounds, 
they close of themselves." This recalled to me the reply 
of Captain Bridger in the past year. He had had, within 
four years, two quivers-full of arrows [Fr. deux arimircs 
de Heches: — two arrowheads ?] in his body. Being asked 
if the wounds had been long suppurating, he answered 
humorously, " in the mountains meat never spoils." 

The Indians who live on Clark's river are of the middle 
size. The women are very filthy. Their faces, hands and 
feet are black and stiff with dirt. They rub them every 
morning with a composition of red and brown earth mixed 
up with fish oil. Their hair, always long and disheveled, 
serves them for a towel to wipe their hands on. Their gar- 
ment is generally tattered, and stiff and shining with dust 
and grease. They seem to be less subjected to slavish labor 
than the squaws that live east of the mountains, still they 
have to toil hard, and to do whatever is most difficult. 
They are obliged to carry all the household furniture or to 
row the canoe when they move from one place to another; 
at home, they fetch the wood and the water, clean the fish, 
prepare the meals, gather the roots and fruits of the season, 
and when any leisure time is left, they spend it in making 
mats, baskets and hats of bull-rushes. What must appear 



NATIVE THEREPEUTICS, IOI3 

rather singular is, that the men more frequently handle the 
needle than the squaws. Their chief occupations, however, 
are fishing and hunting. These Indians suffer much from 
ophthalmic affections. Scarcely a cabin is to be found on 
Clark's river, in which there is not a blind or one-eyed per- 
son, or some one laboring under some disease of the eye. 
This probably proceeds from two causes — first, because 
they are frequently on the water and exposed from morning 
till night to the direct and reflected rays of the sun, and 
next, because living in low cabins made of bull-rushes, the 
large fire they make in the centre fills it with smoke, which 
must gradually injure their eyes. 

Conjurers are found here as well as in some parts of 
Europe. They are a kind of physicians. Whatever may 
be the complaint of the patient these gentlemen have him 
stretched out on his back, and his friends and relatives are 
ordered to stand round him, each one armed with two sticks 
of unequal length. The doctor or conjurer neither feels 
the pulse nor looks at the tongue, but with a soWmn counte- 
nance commences to sing some mournful strain, whilst those 
present accompany him with their voices and beat time with 
the sticks. During the singing the doctor operates on the 
patient, he kneels before him, and placing his closed fists 
on the stomach, leans on him with all his might. Excess- 
ive pain makes the patient roar, but his roarings are lost in 
the noise, for the doctor and the bystanders raise their 
voices higher in proportion as the sick man gives utterance 
to his sufferings. At the end of each stanza the doctor 
joins his hands, applies them to the patient's lips, and blows 
with all his strength. This operation is repeated till at last 
the doctor takes from the patient's mouth, either a little 
white stone or the claw of some bird or animal, which he 
exhibits to the bystanders, protesting that he has removed 
the cause of the disease, and that the patient will soon re- 
cover. But whether he recover or die, the quack is here as 
elsewhere rewarded for his exertions. Mundiis zidt decipi, 
is the watchword of quacks, jugglers and mountebanks; 



I0I4 CHINOOK CREATION LEGEND. 

and it seems that the Indian conjurers are not unacquainted 
with it. I received this description of their method of cur- 
ing diseases from a clerk of the Hudson Bay Company. I 
shall subjoin another anecdote concerning the religious 
ideas entertained by the Chinooks. All men, they say, were 
created by a divinity called Etalapasse, but they were cre- 
ated imperfect or unfinished. Their mouths were not cleft, 
their eyes were closed, and their hands and feet were im- 
movable; so that they were rather living lumps of flesh 
than men. Another divinity, whom they call Ecannum 
(resembling the Nanahoojoo of the Potawatomies), less 
powerful, but more benevolent than the former, seeing the 
imperfect state of these men, took a sharp stone and with 
it opened their mouths and eyes. He also gave motion to 
their hands and feet. This merciful divinity did not rest 
satisfied with conferring these first favors on the human 
race. He taught them to make canoes and paddles, nets 
and all the implements now used by the Indians. He threw 
large rock.'- into the rivers to obstruct their courses, and 
confine the fish in order that the Indians might catch them 
in larger quantities. 

When I speak of the Indian character, I do not mean to 
include the Indians that live in the neighborhood of civil- 
ized man, and have intercourse with him. It is acknowl- 
edged in the United States that the whites who trade with 
those Indians, not only demoralize them by the sale of spirit- 
uous liquors, but communicate to them their own vices, of 
which some are shocking and revolting to nature. The 
Indian left to himself is circumspect and discreet in his 
words and actions. He seldom gives way to passion ; ex- 
cept against the hereditary enemies of his nation. When 
there is question of them, his words breathe hatred and 
vengeance. He seeks revenge, because he firmly believes 
that it is the only means by which he can retrieve his honor 
when he has been insulted or defeated ; because he thinks 
that only low and vulgar minds can forget an injury, and 
he fosters rancor because he deems it a virtue. With re- 



SELF-COMMAND OF SAVAGES. IOI5 

spect to others, the Indian is cool and dispassionate, check- 
ing the least violent emotion of his heart. Thus should he 
know that one of his friends is in danger of being attacked 
by an enemy lying in wait for him, he will not openly tell 
him so (for he would deem this an act of fear), but will 
ask him where he intends to go that day, and after having 
received an answer, will add with the same indifference, 
that a wild beast lies hidden on the way. This figurative 
remark will render his friend as cautious as if he were ac- 
quainted with all the designs and movements of the enemy. 

Thus again, if an Indian has been hunting without suc- 
cess, he will go to the cabin of one of his friends, taking 
care not to show the least sign of disappointment or im- 
patience, nor to speak of the hunger which he suffers. He 
will sit down and smoke the calumet with as much indiffer- 
ence as if he had been successful in the chase. He acts in 
the same manner when he is among strangers. To give 
signs of disappointment or impatience, is looked upon by 
the Indians as a mark of cowardice, and wou,d earn for 
them the appellation of " old woman," which is the most 
injurious and degrading epithet that can be applied to an 
Indian. If an Indian be told that his children have dis- 
tinguished themselves in battle — that they have taken sev- 
eral scalps, and have carried off many enemies and horses, 
without giving the least sign of joy, he will answer: " They 
have done well." If he be informed that they have been 
killed or made prisoners, he will utter no complaint, but 
will simply say : " It is unfortunate." He will make no 
inquiries into the circumstances; several days must elapse 
before he asks for further information. 

The Indian is endowed with extraordinary sagacity, and 
easily learns whatever demands application. Experience 
and observation render him conversant with things that are 
unknown to the civilized man. Thus, he will traverse a plain 
or forest lOO or 200 miles in extent, and will arrive 
at a particular place with as much precision as the 
mariner by the aid of the compass. Unless prevented by 



IOl6 ALL SKILL A MATTER OF TRAINING. 

obstacles, he, without any material deviation, always travels 
in a straight line, regardless of path or road. In the same 
manner he will point out the exact place of the sun, when it 
is hidden by mists or clouds. Thus, too, he follows with the 
greatest accuracy the traces of men or animals, though these 
should have passed over the leaves or the grass, and nothing 
be perceptible to the eye of the white man. He acquires 
this knowledge from a constant application of the intellect- 
ual faculties, and much time and experience are required to 
perfect this perceptive quality. Generally speaking, he has 
an excellent memory. He recollects all the articles that 
have been concluded upon in their councils and treaties, and 
the exact time when such councils were held or such treaties 
ratified. 

Some writers have supposed that the Indians are guided 
by instinct, and have even ventured to assert that their chil- 
dren would find their way through the forests as well as 
those further advanced in age. I have consulted some of 
the most intelligent Indians on this subject, and they have 
uniformly told me that they acquire this practical knowl- 
edge by long and close attention to the growth of plants 
and trees, and to the sun and stars. It is known that the 
north side of a tree is covered with a greater quantity of 
moss than any other, and that the boughs and foliage on 
the south side are more abundant and luxuriant. Similar 
observations tend to direct them, and I have more than once 
found their reflections useful to myself in the excursions I 
have made through the forests. Parents teach their chil- 
dren to remark such things, and these in their turn some- 
times add new discoveries to those of their fathers. They 
measure distances by a day's journey. When an Indian 
travels alone, his day's journey will be about fifty or sixty 
English miles, but only fifteen or twenty when he moves 
with the camp. They divide their journeys, as we do the 
hours, into halves and quarters ; and when in their councils 
they decide on war or on distant excursions, they lay off 
these journeys with astonishing accuracy on a kind of map, 



SOMETHING ABOUT DREAMS. IOI7 

which they trace on bark or skins. Though they have no 
knowledge of geography, nor of any science that relates to 
it, yet they form with sufficient accuracy maps of the coun- 
tries which they know ; nothing but the degrees of longitude 
and latitude are wanting in some to make them exact. To 
travel by the polestar is the extent of their astronomy. 

I remember to have read in Father Charlevoix' journal 
that the Indians are remarkably superstitious with respect 
to dreams. This is still the case, though they interpret 
them in various ways. Some maintain that during sleep 
the rational part of the soul travels about, whilst the sensi- 
tive continues to animate the body. Others say that the 
good Manitou or familiar spirit gives salutary advice con- 
cerning the future, whilst others hold that in sleep the soul 
visits the objects about which she dreams. But all look 
upon dreams as sacred, and as the ordinary channels 
through which the Great Spirit and the Manitous communi- 
cate their designs to man. Impressed with this idea, the 
Indian is at a loss to conceive why we disregard them. As 
they look upon dreams as representations of the desires of 
some unearthly genius, or of the commands of the Great 
Spirit, they deem themselves bound to observe and obey 
them. Charlevoix tells us somewhere, and I have seen in- 
stances of a similar kind, that an Indian who had dreamed 
that he had cut off his finger, actually cut it, and prepared 
himself for the act by a fast. Another having dreamed 
that he was a prisoner among a hostile nation, not knowing 
how to act, consulted the jugglers, and according to their 
decision, had himself bound to a stake, and fire applied to 
several parts of his body. I doubt whether the quotation is 
correct, as I have not the work of Charlevoix to consult, 
but I know that I have described a superstitious belief which 
is generally held by the Indians of the present day. Among 
the Crows I saw a warrior who, in consequence of a dream, 
had put on women's clothing and subjected himself to all 
the labors and duties of that condition, so humiliating to an 
Indian. On the other hand there is a woman among the 



I0l8 PEACE BY WAMPUM AND CALUMET. 

Snakes who once dreamed that she was a man and killed 
animals in the chase. Upon waking, she assumed her hus- 
band's garments, took his gun and went out to test the vir- 
tue of her dream; she killed a deer. Since that time she 
has not left off man's costume ; she goes on the hunts and on 
the war-path ; by some fearless actions she has obtained the 
title of " brave " and the privilege of admittance to the 
council of the chiefs. Nothing less than another dream 
could make her return to her gown. 

When the Potawatomies or any of the northern nations 
make or renew a treaty of peace, they present a wampum 
sash or collar. The wampum is made of a shell called 
buccinum, and shaped into small beads in the form of pearls. 
When they conclude an alliance, offensive or defensive, with 
other tribes, they send them a wampum sash and tomahawk 
dipped in blood, inviting them to come and drink of the 
blood of their enemies. This figurative expression often 
becomes a reality. Among the nations of the West the cal- 
umet is looked upon with equal reverence, whether in peace 
or war. They smoke the calumet to confirm their treaties 
and alliances. This smoking is considered a solemn en- 
gagement, and he who should violate it would be deemed 
unworthy of confidence, infamous and an object of divine 
vengeance. In time of war the calumet and all its orna- 
ments are red. Sometimes it is partly red and partly of 
some other color. By the color and the manner of dispos- 
ing the feathers, a person accjuainted with their practices 
knows at first sight what are the designs or intentions of 
the nation that presents the calumet. 

The smoking of the calumet forms a part of all their 
religious ceremonies. It is a kind of sacred rite which they 
perform when they prepare themselves to invoke the Great 
Spirit, and take the sun and moon, the earth and the water 
as witnesses of the sincerity of their intentions, and the 
fidelity with which they promise to comply with their en- 
gagements. However ridiculous this custom of smoking 
may appear to some, it has a good effect among the Indians. 



EXPERIENCE ON EFFECTS OF SMOKING. IOI9 

Experience has taught them that the smoke of the calumet 
dispels the vapors of the brain, aids them to think and judge 
with greater accuracy and precision, and excites their cour- 
age. This seems to be the principal reason why they have 
introduced it into their councils, where it is looked upon as 
the seal of their decisions. It is also sent as a pledge of 
fidelity to those whom they wish to consult, or with whom 
they desire to form an alliance. I know that the opinions 
of the Indians concerning the beneficial effects of smoking 
the calumet will be sanctioned by few persons, because it is 
demonstrated from experience that the smoke of tobacco 
acts as a powerful narcotic upon the nervous system, and 
produces soporific and debilitating effects ; but it should be 
remembered that such effects are not produced when the 
smoke is inhaled into the lungs, as is the universal practice 
of the Indians. 

The funeral ceremonies of the Calkobins [Talkotins?], 
who inhabit New Caledonia, west of the mountains, are 
fantastic and revolting. Mr. Cox, in his journal, tells us 
that the body of the deceased is exposed in his lodge for 
nine days, and on the tenth is burned. They choose for this 
purpose an elevated place, and there erect a funeral pile. In 
the meanwhile, they invite their neighbors from all sides, 
entreating them to repair tO' the ceremony. All the prepa- 
rations being completed, the corpse is placed on the pile, 
which they light, while the spectators manifest the greatest 
joy. All that the deceased possessed is placed around the 
body ; and if he be a person of distinction, his friends pur- 
chase for him a cloak, a shirt, and a pair of breeches : these 
are laid beside him. The medicine man must be present, 
and, for the last time, has recourse to his enchantments, to 
recall the departed to life. Not succeeding, he covers the 
dead body — that is, he makes a present of a piece of cloth, 
or leather, and thus appeases the anger of the relatives, and 
escapes the vengeance they have a right to inflict upon him. 
During the nine days on which the corpse is exposed, the 
widow is obliged to remain near it from the rising to the 



1020 PLEASURES OF WIDOWHOOD. 

setting of the sun ; and, notwithstanding the excessive heats 
of summer, no relaxation is allowed from this barbarous 
custom. While the doctor is occupied in his last operation, 
the widow must lie down beside the corpse, until he orders 
her to withdraw from the pile; and this order is not given 
until the unfortunate being is covered with blisters. She 
then is made to pass and repass her hands through the 
flames, to collect the fat, which flows from the body : with 
this she rubs her person. When the friends of the de- 
ceased observe that the sinews of the legs and arms begin 
to contract, they force the miserable widow to return to the 
pile, and straighten the limbs. 

If, during the lifetime of the husband, the woman had 
been unfaithful to him, or had neglected to provide for his 
wants, his relations then revenge themselves upon her ; they 
throw her upon the pile, from whence she is dragged by 
her own relations. She is again cast upon it, and again 
withdrawn, until she falls into a state of insensibility. 

The body being consumed, the widow gathers together 
the largest bones; these she incloses in a birch box, which 
she is forced to carry for many years. She is looked upon 
while in this state as a slave; the hardest and most labori- 
ous work falls to her lot ; she must obey every order of the 
women, and even of the children ; and the least disobedience 
or repugnance draws down upon her severe chastisement. 
The ashes of her husband are deposited in a tomb, and it is 
her duty to remove from thence the weeds. These unhappy 
women frequently destroy themselves to avoid so many 
cruelties. At the end of three or four years the relatives 
agree to put an end to her mourning. They prepare a great 
feast for this occasion, and invite all the neighbors. The 
widow is then introduced, still carrying the bones of the 
husband ; these are taken from her, and shut up in a coffin, 
which is fastened at the end of a stake about twelve feet 
long. All the guests extol her painful widowhood ; one of 
whom pours upon her head a vessel of oil, whilst another 
covers her with down. It is only after this ceremony that 



A WINTER DEER-KUNT. I02 I 

the widow can marry again; but, as may be readily sup- 
posed, the number of those who hazard a second marriage 
is very small. 



Coeiir D'Alene Hunting? 

The Indians watch for the proper time to go all together 
for a hunt or " surround " of deer. They wait until the 
mountains are covered with three to five feet of snow and 
the deer have been driven down to the valleys, where they 
pass the winter, feeding on moss off the trees, the tenderer 
branches of the underbrush and shoots of the herbs and 
plants. 

This happened soon after the feasts of Christmas [1858], 
and all our hunters started out, taking only a few mats 
made of rushes to shelter them against bad weather and 
the nocturnal cold, and also blankets or buffalo skins to 
wrap themselves in. 

They choose by preference the neighborhood of some 
lake or river which is not yet frozen over; and they deter- 
mine the extent of the surround, according to the number 
of hunters of which the band is composed. A hunting- 
chief is chosen, and all his orders are thereafter executed 
promptly and punctually. On both ends of their line they 
light fires, some distance apart, which they feed with old 
garments and worn-out moccasins. The hunters are now 
formed in a long curved line, something like a half-moon. 
At a given signal, they utter the hunting-cry and move for- 
ward. The frightened deer rush to right and left to escape. 
As soon as they smell the smoke of the fires, they turn and 
run back. Having the fires on both sides of them and the 
hunters in their rear, they dash toward the lake, aAd soon 
they are so closely pressed that they jump into the water, as 
the only refuge left them. Then everything is easy for the 
hunters : they let the animals get away from the shore, then 

''From the French of the third Belgian edition, vol. IV. Dated 
St. Louis, April 3, i86r. 



1022 KILLING ANIMALS IN THE SNOW. 

pursue them in their hght bark-canoes and kill them with- 
out trouble or danger. 

When the " surround " is performed in a valley at a dis- 
tance from water, the hunters form a complete circle, de- 
termining the size of it by their own number. Then they 
practice the same stratagem, burning their old rags in a 
hundred little fires round about, to prevent the deer from 
escaping from the circle. Pursued in every direction, the 
terrified animals flee from one clump of wood or brush to 
another, until finally, enveloped on all sides and finding no 
issue, they fall into the hands of the hunters. It is seldom 
that a deer escapes them. It follows also that the hunters 
themselves are considerably endangered. In the eagerness 
and excitement of such a chase, bullets and arrows are liable 
to fly wild or glance, and do mischief. 

When the snow is very deep in the valleys, and has taken 
on a crust, sufficient to bear the hunter on his snowshoes, 
then hunting is a veritable joke to him ; the whole herd of 
deer is soon captured, from the least even unto the greatest. 
The poor beasts soon become exhausted in the snow and 
have no chance to escape. They are easily killed with 
clubs, lances and even knives. A young Indian who was at 
the Sacred Heart Mission assured me that, without weapon 
of any kind, he simply jumped on the deer's back, grasped 
his horns and twisted his neck. He killed eight in this 
way, in the present hunt. 

Sometimes as many as 200 to 300 are killed in a single 
surround. Ordinarily, however, the number is less. After 
the hunt, the flesh of the deer is divided among all the fam- 
ilies by the chief of the tribe, or by him who has managed 
the expedition. The portions are regulated according to the 
number of persons constituting the different families. The 
hunter who kills the animal has sole right to the skin. 

In winter, the hunts are generally made in common. 

Bears are as numerous in the Coeur d'Alene countries as 
in the other mountainous districts. Often the Indians come 
upon their tracks or ravages while looking for their food- 



BEARS AND THEIR ENEMIES. IO23 

roots : the earth may be trampled, branches of trees broken 
or the bark scratched by the redoubtable animals. 

The bear is hunted in various manners. In winter, it is 
not very dangerous. The bear is shut up in his den, either 
alone or, more frequently, with one or two others, remain- 
ing several months entirely torpid, only rarely going out to 
drink; but the trail that they make from their den to the 
water betrays them, and allows the hunter to discover, pur- 
sue and approach them with ease. Bears are generally 
■found in the hollow of some big tree or in a hole in the 
rocks. The entrance is usually nearly closed. The hunter 
makes a hole large enough to permit him to make investi- 
gations and take the proper measures. In most cases he 
takes a long stick and feels around until he finds out where 
the animal lies. If it is a deep hole, he sets fire to a bunch 
of pitchy twigs on the end of a pole, to reconnoitre the hole 
and the position of its dangerous occupant. These pre- 
cautions are necessary to guarantee the success of the shot. 
Sometimes it even happens that a very bold hunter will go 
into the cavity, when it is a rock den, and kill his prey at 
arm's length or with his knife. 

There were tw^o Indians at the mission, when I was there, 
who certainly had earned hunters' diplomas. One assured 
me that he had killed eleven grizzlies and seventy black or 
brown bears; the other had killed over loo bears, and 
both without running excessive danger. They told 
me some interesting particulars, as for instance that 
the skin of the bear is only bad in summer, when the 
hair has no firmness. In spring, the bear feeds on roots 
and herbs ; he is especially fond of the leaves of a plant that 
resembles our cabbage. He also eats with avidity the 
worms that he finds under stumps or rocks, often lifting 
very large stones in search of them, since his strength is 
prodigious. In autumn, he subsists principally on berries 
from the low bushes, and he is so greedy for them that at 
this time it is easy to approach him. When a hunter finds 
a bear's track, or the path worn by the animal, he lies in 



1024 THE FASCINATING CARCAJOU AGAIN. 

wait in some suitable place, arranging so as to be certain of 
his prey. 

The Indians I have mentioned may be ranked among the 
more fortunate hunters. " A great many others," they 
told me, " have not had the same success, and have come 
back from the bear-hunt with a broken leg or arm, muti- 
lated, wounded and bruised all over. Many have lost their 
lives." 

Bears are exceedingly dangerous when they have young 
ones or when they feel themselves wounded. Then they 
will attack or defend themselves against the aggressor, and 
they are very ferocious. Aside from these cases, when a 
bear meets a man and the man lets him alone, he will not 
be the first to begin an attack ; he goes his way and lets the 
stranger pass in peace. Ex pert o crede Roberto; I have 
tried it frequently m.yself. It is true, to be sure, that the 
fear of man is cJiaracteristic of all animals. It is a pre- 
rogative which the Creator bestowed upon him at the be- 
ginning. 

The Urstis giilo, carcajou or wolverine is ordinarily 
found in the Arctic regions as far as the seventy-fifth de- 
gree. He appears in the various sections of the Rocky 
Mountains, including that in which I was this winter 
[1858-59]. He may be called the Torment of the moun- 
tain traveler, and especially of the beaver-hunter, who con- 
siders the wolverine his greatest enemy and has always to 
keep on his guard against him. The reason is this. When 
the carcajou discovers a cache of provisions or skins, he 
devours the first with pleasure and destroys the second. He 
also destroys the steel traps that are set around here and 
there to take other animals ; and I am assured that when he 
cannot manage this, he carries them off and hides them in 
the branches or hollow trunk of a tree. His strength is pro- 
digious. Although not large, and with very short legs, he 
will carry or drag a large deer a long distance. But cun- 
ning as he is, man is his superior, and the carcajou falls into 
his snares like all the others. 



SUNDRY SMALLER BEASTS. IO25 

I have spoken in other places of the buffalo, elk, moose, 
bighorn, antelope and the various ways in which they are 
hunted. I have only a few words more to say concerning 
other animals which dwell in these parts, and the manner of 
taking them. 

Foxes are very numerous in this country, and there are 
several kinds of them. The skin of the silver fox is very 
valuable ; those of the otter and beaver are highly prized. 
Skins of the marten, muskrat and little white ermine are 
in commercial demand. The rabbit, hare, prairie and wood 
squirrel, large and small wolf, badger, skunk, ring-tailed 
badger or rat des bois [opossum?] which lives on crawfishes 
and small fish ; all these animals have skins of little value, 
and the Indians generally use them to make hoods, gloves 
and collars. All these animals are usually taken either in 
steel traps or in snares of various fashions with diverse 
baits. 

Man is great wherever he is found. He is the king of 
nature, according to the Creator's design ; but unfortu- 
nately he often forgets the grandeur of his origin and des- 
tiny ; and while he is clearly the master of the beasts, he is, 
alas! the slave of his own passions. 



The Buffalo Chase. 
Reverend and very dear Father:^ 

According to promise, I proceed to offer you the de- 
scription of a hunt. If I succeed in making my narration 
intelligible, I shall be satisfied, and shall not regret devoting 
my time to the writing of it. 

To be a good hunter and a good warrior are the two quali- 

8 To the editor of the Precis Historiques, Brussels. Dated College 
of St. Xavier, Cincinnati, O., August 3, 1854. Published as Letters XI 
and XII Cinquante NowVelles Lettres. thence translated as Letters XI 
and XII, Second Series, Western Missions and Missionaries. The lat- 
ter text is here followed. 
6S 



I026 TRAINING OF A HUNTER. 

ties par excellence that constitute a great man among all the 
nomadic tribes of North America. In this communication 
I shall limit myself to the manner of conducting a hunt. 

The chase absorbs the whole attention of the savage. The 
knowledge that he has acquired, by long experience, of the 
nature and instinct of animals, is truly marvelous. He is 
occupied with it from his tender infancy. As soon as a 
child is capable of managing a little bow, it is the first instru- 
ment his father puts into his hands, to teach him how to 
hunt little birds and small animals. The young Indians are 
initiated in all their stratagems. They are taught with as 
much care how to approach and kill the animals, as in civ- 
ilized society a youth is instructed in reading, writing and 
arithmetic. 

An expert Indian hunter is acquainted minutely with the 
habits and instincts of all the quadrupeds which form the 
object of the chase. He knows their favorite haunts. It is 
essential for him to distinguish what kind of food an animal 
first seeks, and the most favorable moment of quitting his 
lair for procuring nourishment. The hunter must be fa- 
miliar with all the precautions that are necessary to elude 
the attentive ear and watchful instincts of his intended vic- 
tims; he must appreciate the footstep that has passed him, 
the time that has elapsed since it passed, and the direction 
it has pursued. The atmosphere, the winds, rain, snow, ice, 
forests and the water are the books which the Indian reads, 
consults and examines, on leaving his cabin in pursuit of 
game. 

The tribes of the desert find their subsistence in the chase ; 
the flesh of animals affords them food, and the skins cloth- 
ing. Before the arrival of the whites, the method of killing 
the different species of animals was very simple, consisting 
ordinarily of stratagems and snares. They still have re- 
course to the primitive method in the hunt for large animals, 
when they have no horses capable of pursuing them, and 
powder and ball for killing them are wanting. 

The trap prepared for the bison is an inclosure or pen, 



DAILY BREAD HARD TO CATCH. IO27 

and is one of the more early ways, and perhaps the most 
remarkable in its execution; it demands skill, and gives a 
high idea of the sagacity, activity and boldness of the In- 
dian. As on all other occasions of moment, the jugglers 
are consulted, and the hunt is preceded by a great variety of 
superstitious practices. I witnessed one of these hunts at 
the base of the Rocky Mountains, and of this I will en- 
deavor to give you a faithful detail. 

The bisons roam the prairies in herds of several hundreds, 
and often of several thousands. On many of my travels I 
have seen with my own eyes, as far as I could discern on 
these immense plains, thousands and thousands of these 
noble animals moving slowly, like an interminable troop, in 
one direction, and browsing the grass as they progress. 
They have a fearful appearance; their hairy heads inspire 
with terror those who are ignorant of the pacific habits of 
this noble quadruped. Indeed, such is their timidity that 
one man can put to flight the most numerous herd. When 
alarmed, the tramp of their hoofs, their bellowings and the 
columns of dust which they raise, resemble the deep mur- 
murs of a tempest mingled with peals of thunder, lessening 
as they grow more remote. The flesh of the bison is much 
esteemed and very nourishing ; it is deemed the daily bread 
of all the Indian tribes on the great plains. 

A tribe that has few guns, few horses to run down the 
animals, which needs provisions, and skins for clothing (and 
such was the condition of our Assiniboins), must employ 
the old or primitive method of hunting, which has existed 
from time immemorial. 

The Indians whom I saw engaged in it were encamped on 
a suitable place for the construction of a park or inclosure. 
The camp of which I speak contained about 300 lodges, 
which represent 2,000 or 3,000 souls. They had selected 
the base of a chain of hills, whose gentle slope presented a 
narrow valley and a prairie, in which all the lodges were 
ranged. Opposite the hills there was a fine large prairie. 

After the construction of the lodges, a great council is 



I028 REGULATIONS OF THE HUNT. 

held, at which all the chiefs and all the hunters assist. They 
first choose a band of warriors to hinder the hunters from 
leaving camp, either alone or in detached companies, lest 
the bisons be disturbed, and thus be driven away from 
the encampment. The law against this is extremely severe ; 
not only all the Indians of the camp must conform to it, 
but it reaches to all travelers, even when they are ignorant 
of the encampment or do not know that there is a hunt in 
contemplation. Should they frighten the animals, they are 
also punishable ; however, those of the camp are more rig- 
orously chastised in case they transgress the regulation. 
Their guns, their bows and arrows are broken, their lodges 
cut in pieces, their dogs killed, all their provisions and their 
hides are taken from them. If they are bold enough to re- 
sist the penalty, they are beaten with bows, sticks and clubs, 
and this torment frequently terminates in the death of the 
unhappy aggressor. Any one who should set fire to the 
prairie by accident or imprudence, or in any way frighten 
off the herd, woujd be sure to be well beaten. 

As soon as the law is promulgated, the construction of the 
pen is commenced. Everybody labors at it with cheerful 
ardor, for it is an affair of common interest, on which the 
subsistence of the entire tribe during several months will 
depend. The pen has an area of about an acre. To inclose 
it in a circular form, stakes are firmly fixed in the ground, 
and the distance between them filled with logs, dry boughs, 
masses of stone — in short, with whatever they can find that 
will answer the purpose. The circular palisade has but one 
opening ; before this opening is a slope embracing fifteen or 
twenty feet between the hills : this inclined plane grows 
wider as it diverges from the circle; at its two sides they 
continue the fence to a long distance on the plain. 

As soon as these preparations are completed, the Indians 
elect a grandmaster of ceremonies and of the pen. He is 
generally an old man, a distinguished personage, belonging 
to the Wah-kon, or medicine band, and famous in the art of 
jugglery, which the Indians, as I have remarked, deem a 



EVERYTHING DONE BY MEDICINE. IO29 

supernatural science. His office it is to decide the moment 
for driving the bisons into the inclosure, and give the signal 
for the commencement of the hunt. He plants the medicine- 
mast in the centre of the park, and attaches to it the three 
charms which are to allure the animals in that direction, viz., 
a streamer of scarlet cloth two or three yards long, a piece 
of tobacco and a bison's horn. Every morning at the early 
dawn he beats his drum, intones his hymns of conjuration, 
consults his own Wah-kon and the manitous or guiding- 
spirits of the bisons, in order to discover the favorable mo- 
ment for the chase. 

The grandmaster has four runners at his disposal, who go 
out daily and report to him the true result of their observa- 
tions ; they tell at what distance from the camp the animals 
are, their probable number, and in what direction the herd 
is marching. These runners frequently go forty or fifty 
miles in different directions. In all their courses they take 
with them a Wah-kon ball, which is intrusted to them by 
the grandmaster; it is made of buffalo hair and covered 
with skin. When the runners think that the suitable mo- 
ment has arrived, they immediately dispatch a man of their 
number to the grandmaster, with the ball and the good news. 
So long as the mysterious ball is absent, the master of cere- 
monies cannot take food ; he prolongs this rigorous fast by 
abstaining from every meat or dish that does not come from 
some animal killed on the area of the park, until the hunt is 
over; and as they often remain a month or more awaiting 
the most favorable moment of beginning, the grandmaster 
must find himself reduced to very small rations, unless he 
makes some arrangement with his conscience. It is proba- 
ble that he eats stealthily at night, for he has no more ap- 
pearance of fasting than his brethren of the camp. 

Let us now suppose all to be in readiness, and the circum- 
stances all favorable to the hunt. The grandmaster of the 
park beats his drum, to announce that the bisons are in nu- 
merous herds at about fifteen or twenty miles distance. The 
wind is favorable, and comes directly from the point in 



1030 THE BUFFALO ARE ATTRACTED 

which the animals are. Immediately all the horsemen 
mount their coursers; the foot soldiers, armed with bows, 
guns and lances, take their positions, forming two long 
oblique diverging rows, from the extremity of the two bar- 
riers which spring from the entrance of the pen and extend 
into the plain, and thus prolong the lines of the inclosure. 
When the footmen are placed at distances of ten or fifteen 
feet, the horsemen continue the same lines, which separate 
in proportion as they extend, so that the last hunter on 
horseback is found at about two or three miles distance 
from the pen, and at very nearly the same distance from the 
last hunter of the other line, in an opposite direction. When 
men are wanting, women and even children occupy stations. 

After the formation of these two immense lines, one 
single Indian, unarmed, is sent upon the best courser in the 
camp in the direction of the buffalo, to meet them. He ap- 
proaches against the wind and with the greatest precaution. 
At the distance of about 100 paces he envelops himself in 
a buffalo hide, the fur turned outside, and also envelops his 
horse as much as possible in the same manner, and then 
makes a plaintive cry in imitation of that of a bison calf. 
As if by enchantment, this cry attracts the attention of the 
whole herd ; after some seconds, several thousands of these 
quadrupeds, hearing this pitiful plaint, tu'-n toward the pre- 
tended calf. At first they move slowly, then advance into 
a trot, and at last they push forward in full gallop. The 
horseman continually repeats the cry of the calf, and takes 
his course toward the pen, ever attentive to keep at the same 
distance from the animals that are following him. By this 
stratagem he leads the vast herd of bisons through the 
whole distance that separates him from his companions, who 
are on the qui vive, full of ardor and impatience to share 
with him in his sport. 

When the buffalo arrive in the space between the extremi- 
ties of the two lines, the scene changes ; all assumes an ap- 
pearance of eagerness. The hunters on horseback, giving 
rein to their steeds, rejoin each other behind the animals. 



AND FIND THEMSELVES IN TROUBLE. IO3I 

At once the scent of the hunters is communicated among 
the frightened and routed animals, which attempt to escape 
in every direction. Then those on foot appear. The bisons, 
finding themselves surrounded and inclosed on all sides, 
except the single opening into the circular pen before them, 
low and bellow in the most frightful manner, and plunge 
into it with the speed of fear and desperation. The lines of 
hunters close in gradually ; and space becomes less necessary 
as the mass of bisons and the groups of hunters become 
more and more compact. Then the Indians commence firing 
their guns, drawing their arrows and flinging their lances. 
Many animals fall under the blows before gaining the pen : 
the greater number, however, enter. They discover, only 
too late, the snare that has been laid for them. Those in 
front try to return, but the terrified crowd that follow force 
them to go forward, and they cast themselves in confusion 
into the inclosure, amid the hurrahs and joyful shouts of 
the whole tribe, intermingled with the firing of guns. 

As soon as all are penned, the buffalo are killed with ar- 
rows, lances and knives. Men, women and children, in an 
excitement of joy, take part in the general butchery and 
the flaying and cutting up of the animals. To look at them 
without disgust in this operation, one must have been a 
little habituated to their customs and manners. While men 
cut and slash the flesh, the women, and children in particu- 
lar, devour the meat still warm with life — the livers, kid- 
neys, brains, etc., seems irresistible attractions: they smear 
their faces, hair, arms and legs with the blood of the bisons ; 
confused cries, clamorous shouts, and here and there quar- 
rels, fill up the scene. It is a picturesque and savage scene, 
a very pandemonium — a sight very difficult to depict by 
words or to recount in minute details. In the hunt which I 
have just described, and at which I was present, 600 bison 
were taken. 

After the butchery, the skins and the flesh are separated 
into piles, and these piles are divided among the families, in 
proportion to the number of which they are composed. The 



1032 A VERY HUMBLE PEOPLE. 

meat is afterward cut in slices and dried ; the bones are 
bruised and their grease extracted. The dogs also receive 
their portion of the feast, and devour the remains on the 
arena of the pen. Two days after the hunt not a vestige of 
the carnage remained. Before separating, the Indians pass 
several days in dancing and mirth. One of your Keysers or 
Verboeckhovens should assist at one of these spirited, pic- 
turesque scenes of the Great Desert; he would find a new 
subject for a painting. 

The old proverb says, " One half of the world knows not 
how the other half lives." The American Indians, who live 
on the spontaneous products of the soil, may say as much : 
the countless herds of bison that roam over the vast plains, 
serve as daily bread to the numerous tribes of the Great 
Desert. 

The Soshocos are the most degraded of the races of this 
vast continent. The Americans call them " Poor Devils," 
and the French and Canadian voyagcurs denominated them 
" les dignes de pitie." They roam over the desert and bar- 
ren districts of Utah and California, and that portion of the 
Rocky Mountains which branches into Oregon. In my mis- 
sions and journeys I have sometimes met with families of 
these wretched Soshocos ; they are really worthy of pity. I 
was so happy as to baptize several of their sick children just 
before they died. 

While the Indians of the plains, who live on the flesh of 
animals, are tall, robust, active and generally well-clad with 
skins, the Soshoco, who subsists chiefly on grasshoppers and 
ants, is miserable, lean, weak and badly clothed ; he inspires 
sentiments of compassion in the minds of those who traverse 
the unproductive region which he occupies. 

After having described to you the inclosure hunt, as prac- 
ticed by the Assiniboins, I will show you the reverse of the 
picture, by describing the great grasshopper hunt^ practiced 
among the Soshocos. This hunt deserves mention, I think, 
especially as a contrast to the other. 

* Fr. la grande chasse aux sauterelles : " the grasshopper surround." 



BUT SPORTSMEN STILL. IO33 

The Grasshopper Hunt. 

The principal portion of the Soshoco territory is covered 
with wormwood, and other species of artemisia, in which the 
grasshoppers swarm by myriads; these parts are conse- 
quently most frequented by this tribe. When they are suffi- 
ciently numerous, they hunt together. They begin by dig- 
ging a hole, ten or twelve feet in diameter by four or five 
deep; then, armed with long branches of artemisia, they 
surround a field of four or five acres, more or less, according 
to the number of persons who are engaged in it. They stand 
about twenty feet apart, and their whole work is to beat the 
ground, so as to frighten up the grasshoppers and make 
them bound forward. They chase them toward the centre 
by degrees — that is, into the hole prepared for their recep- 
tion. Their number is so considerable that frequently three 
or four acres furnish grasshoppers sufficient to fill the reser- 
voir or hole. 

The Soshocos stay in that place as long as this sort of pro- 
vision lasts. They, as well as other mortals, have their 
tastes. Some eat the grasshoppers in soup, or boiled ; others 
crush them, and make a kind of paste from them, which 
they dry in the sun or before the fire : others eat them en 
appalas — that is, they take pointed rods and string the 
largest ones on them ; afterward these rods are fixed in the 
ground before the fire, and, as they become roasted, the poor 
Soshocos regale themselves until the whole are devoured. 

As they rove from place to place, they sometimes meet 
with a few rabbits, and take some grouse, but seldom kill 
deer or other large animals. 

The contrast between the Indian of the plain and the des- 
titute Soshoco is very striking; but poor as he is, like the 
Hottentot, he loves devotedly his native soil. 

I shall soon leave Cincinnati for Louisville, in Kentucky, 
and then for St. Louis ; from thence, in order to comply 
with your request, I shall continue my Indian memoirs. 
Among other things, I will give you the description of the 



I034 AMBITION OF WARLIKE GLORY. 

peace expedition sent by the Crows to the Blackfeet. I 
collected the facts on the spot, in my mission of 1851 ; for 
in the superstitious and religious ideas and practices of the 
savages, in their expeditions of war and hunting, their char- 
acter and manners are best described. I will give you these 
curious details with as much fidelity as I can. 



Wars of the Crows and Blackfeet. 
Reverend and Dear Father :^^ 

In my last I spoke of the Indian hunting in the Great 
Desert. I will give you to-day some general observations 
on their wars, and especially what I could learn of an 
unhappy peace expedition, during my last visit to the Crows. 

It may be said that war is the ne plus ultra of an Indian's 
glory. The ambition of becoming a great warrior absorbs 
all his attention, all his talents, all his bravery; it is often 
the object of all his voluntary sufferings. His prolonged 
fasts, his long war-paths, penances and macerations, and his 
religious observances, have principally this sole end. To 
wear an eagle's plume, the emblem of an Indian warrior, is 
in his eyes supreme honor, and the most magnificent of orna- 
ments ; for it betokens that he has already distinguished 
himself in battle. Generally at the age of seventeen or 
eighteen years, after the first fast, and after having selected 
his wah-kon, manitou, or tutelary spirit, the youthful savage 
joins the war-parties, which are composed solely of volun- 
teers. 

A chief or partisan who wishes to form a war-party, 
presents himself in the midst of the camp, tomahawk in 
hand, and painted with vermilion, the symbol of blood. He 
intones his war-song: this kind of song is short. The war 
chief proclaims with emphasis his lofty deeds, his patriotic 
and martial ardor — the sentiments and motives which 

1^ Addressed to the editor of the Precis Historiqucs, Brussels. Dated 
University of St. Louis, August, 1854. 



CROWS ARE NOBLE REDMEN. IO35 

prompt him to vengeance. His song is accompanied with 
the drum and the sischiquoin, or gourd filled with little peb- 
bles. He stamps on the ground, as though he could shake 
the earth to the centre. All the youth listen to him with at- 
tention, and any one who rises becomes a volunteer in his 
party; he, in his turn, intones his war-song, and this cere- 
mony has the force of a solemn pledge, from which a young 
man cannot honorably withdraw. Each volunteer arms and 
equips himself with all that will be necessary for him in his 
expeditions. The whole force of public opinion among the 
Indians ar>oears to be concentrated on this point. The narra- 
tion of their adventures and of their valorous deeds, their 
dances, their religious ceremonies, the speeches of their 
orators in their public assemblies; whatever, in fine, can 
serve to inflame ambition in the mind and heart of a bar- 
barian, is referred to the idea of being one day distinguished 
in war. 

I have now to speak of the Crows. Among all the tribes 
of the northwest portion of North America, this nation is 
considered as the most warlike and valiant. It counts about 
480 lodges, ten individuals to a lodge, and roams over the 
valley of the Yellowstone, principally in the region of the 
Wind River IMountains, or Black Hills, and the Rocky 
Mountains. This race is one of the noblest in the desert; 
they are tall, robust and well formed, have a piercing eye, 
aquiline nose, and teeth of ivory whiteness. If they are 
considered as superior in intelligence to all their neighbors, 
they also surpass them in their wah-kon, or superstitious 
ideas and ceremonies, which reign in all their movements 
and actions. In illustration, I will cite the following trait, 
of which I was innocently and ignorantly the cause. 

In 1840, I first met the Crows, in the valley of the Big 
Horn, a tributary of the Yellowstone. In my quality of 
Black-gown, they received me with all possible demonstra- 
tions of respect and with a sincere joy. I had with me a 
stock of lucifer matches, which I used from time to time to 
light my pipe, and the calumet used in the Great Council. 



1036 MEDICINE FURNISHED BY BLACK-GOWN, 

The effect of these matches surprised them greatly; they 
had never seen any. They conversed about them in all the 
lodges, and called them the mysterious fire which the Black- 
gown carried. I was at once considered the greatest medi- 
cine man that had ever visited their tribe. They conse- 
quently treated me with distinguished respect and listened 
to all I said with the greatest attention. Before my depar- 
ture, the chiefs and principal warriors of the council re- 
quested me to leave them a portion of my matches. Uncon- 
scious of the superstitious ideas which they attached to them, 
I readily distributed them, reserving only what was neces- 
sary for my journey. 

In 1842 I visited them again. The reception they gave 
me was most solemn. I was lodged in the largest and finest 
lodges of the camp. All the chiefs and warriors were hab- 
ited in their embroidered moccasins, leggins and buckskin 
shirts ornamented with beads and porcupine quills, while 
eagle's feathers crowned their heads, and they conducted 
me in grand ceremony from lodge to lodge. That I might 
participate in a grand banquet, I was provided with my band 
of eaters, who would do honor to the viands and eat for me. 
One of the great chiefs testified a special friendship for me. 
" It is to thee, Black-gown," said he to me, " that I owe all 
my glory in the victories I have gained over my enemies." 
His language astonished me greatly, and I begged him to 
explain. Without delay he took from his neck his Wah-kon, 
or medicine-bag, wrapped in a bit of kid. He unrolled it, 
and displayed to my wondering view the remnant of the 
matches I had given him in 1840! *' I use them," said he, 
** every time I go to battle. If the mysterious fire appears 
at the first rubbing, I dart upon my enemies, sure of obtain- 
ing victory." I had considerable difficulty in disabusing 
their minds of this singular superstition. As you see, it 
requires little to acquire a reputation among the Indians: 
with a few lucifer matches, you may be a great man among 
the Crows, and receive great honors. 

The Crows have been invested during several years, on 



ROTTEN BELLY S PEACE COMMISSION. IO37 

the north by the Blackfeet, on the east by the Assiniboins 
and Crees, and on the south by the Sioux. Each of these 
invading nations being more numerous than the nation in- 
vaded, the Crows were necessarily engaged in perpetual war, 
sometimes with one and sometimes with the other of these 
tribes. Hence the last ten years show a great diminution 
in their population, which numbers at the present time not 
more than four hundred warriors. 

Occasionally the Crows have enjoyed peace with the tribes 
of the Blackfeet, Sioux, Bannocks, Assiniboins, etc. ; and it 
is a quite remarkable fact that they have never been the first 
to violate a treaty of peace except in the following instance, 
which I will narrate in full. 

In 1843, ^he great chief of the nation was known by the 
title of " Tezi-Goe," a word which sounds bad enough, 
meaning Rotten Belly. He was as much renowned for his 
bravery in war as for his wisdom in council, and the patri- 
otic love that he testified to the whole nation. Seeing with 
pain the great losses that the continual incursions of so many 
enemies caused his tribe, he resolved to conclude a solemn 
treaty of peace, if not with all, at least with a great part of 
the Blackfeet. He made all suitable arrangements, and 
convoked his council, to deliberate on the most prompt and 
the most efficacious means of success in his great design. 
All the warriors hastened to his aid. After having discussed 
the different points, it was unanimously decided that a party 
of twenty-five braves should repair to the Blackfeet camp, 
to offer them the calumet of peace. 

The guide chosen to conduct the band was one of the 
nation of Blackfeet, taken prisoner by the Crows some years 
before, and hitherto retained in captivity. In order to at- 
tach him more securely to the good cause, the Crows granted 
him his liberty, with the title of brave, and the permission 
to wear the eagle's plume. He was, besides, loaded with 
presents, consisting of horses, arms and ornaments of every 
kind. Having received his instructions, he set out joyfully 
and with signs of gratitude, fully resolved to neglect nothing 



1038 TWENTY-FIVE COMMISSIONERS START. 

to obtain and consolidate an honorable and lasting peace 
between the two nations. A place had been designated in 
which the two tribes might meet as friends and brothers, to 
celebrate the grand event. The deputation, therefore, set 
out for the Blackfeet camp of 400 lodges, commanded by 
the great chief Spotted Deer, or Ponukah-kitzi-Pemmy, 
which they found encamped in the valley of the Marias 
river, a pretty large branch of the Missouri river, in the 
neighborhood of the Great Falls. 

About a month before the departure of this expedition, 
two Crows had been killed, near their own camp, and their 
scalps carried away, by a war-party of Blackfeet. The two 
brothers of these unfortunate victims fasted and took their 
oaths according to custom. These oaths consisted in vowing 
that they would each kill a Blackfoot, the first good chance. 
They communicated their intentions to no one. The bravery 
and determination of these two men were well known. 
They were elected to join the band of deputies, and promised 
ostensibly to forget their private wrongs for the public wel- 
fare ; but in secret they renewed their first intentions, fore- 
seeing that this excursion would probably furnish an occa- 
sion of avenging the double murder of their brothers. 

The band progressed slowly, using many precautions, and 
redoubling them as they approached the camp of the Black- 
feet. When within a few days' distance from it, they sep- 
arated in companies of two or three, to scour the country 
and assure themselves whether any Blackfeet parties were 
out of the village. In the course of the day the two brothers 
stayed together, and discovered two Blackfeet Indians re- 
turning from the chase, with several horses laden with buf- 
falo meat. Having with them a calumet-handle, they ad- 
vanced boldly toward their enemies, and offered them the 
pipe, as on similar occasions. The Blackfeet Indians re- 
ceived the calumet, and were informed that a great deputa- 
tion, commissioned on the part of the Crows, was repairing 
to their village, with pacific intentions. They acted with so 
much address that after some moments the Blackfeet were 



BUT TWO HAVE A RELAPSE OF VIRTUE. I039 

entirely reassured, and conceived no suspicions nor suffered 
the least anxiety. One of them presented his gun to one 
of the two Crows, and the other gave his horse to the 
second. They took the same way together toward the camp, 
but their path led through a deep and lonely ravine. There 
the snare was discovered. The two Blackfeet suddenly 
received mortal blows, and were thus cowardly assassinated 
by the two Crows, who scalped their victims. They then 
killed the horses with arrows, and concealed their carcasses 
beneath the underwood and briers. The two scalps were 
carefully secured in their bullet-bags. Having removed all 
traces of blood from their habiliments, they rejoined their 
companions, without making known the cruel act of private 
vengeance they had consummated, secretly and in violation 
of all received Indian usages. The day which followed this 
atrocious crime the deputation made a solemn entrance into 
the camp -of the Blackfeet, and were received by the chiefs 
and braves with the greatest cordiality, and with every at- 
tention of Indian hospitality. 

The Blackfeet declared themselves favorable to the treaty 
of peace. They received joyfully the proposition which 
the Crows made by their guide and interpreter, the recent 
prisoner. All the politeness and attention of which Indians 
are capable were lavished upon the deputies. They were 
invited to a great number of feasts, to amusements and 
public sports, which lasted late in the night. They were 
afterward distributed to the lodges of the principal chiefs, 
in order to repose after their fatiguing journey. 

The inclination to steal is very common among the women 
of several tribes of the northwest. The Blackfeet women 
share largely in this bad reputation. One of these feminine 
pilferers, favored by the darkness of night, silently entered 
the lodges where the Crows were peaceably sleeping. She 
relieved their pouches of all that could prove valuable to her. 
While searching, she laid her hand upon a damp, hairy ob- 
ject, and instantly perceived it to be a scalp. She seized it, 
quitted the camp in the greatest possible silence, and, by the 



1040 THEY LEAVE DAMAGING EVIDENCE 

glimmering of the watchfire which was burning in the 
middle of the camp, examined the bloody trophy. It is very 
difficult to move an Indian, for he is habituated to strange 
sights. Such an event would have spread alarm among 
white men, but it only tended to render the Indians more 
circumspect and more prudent in taking measures. The 
woman, after reflecting a moment, turned her steps toward 
the lodge of the head chief, awoke him, and communicated 
to his ear in the softest whisper the important discovery she 
had made. He lighted a pine torch, in order to examine 
the scalp. At the first glance he recognized it as that of a 
young hunter who had not yet come back from the chase. 
The chief instantly formed his plan. He made signs to the 
woman to follow him, recommended her to retire to her own 
lodge, because nothing could be done before daylight, and 
forbade her to divulge her secret or to excite the slightest 
suspicion. He feared that in the confusion which would 
probably arise, and sheltered by the darkness, some of the 
Crows might escape. 

Spotted Deer then, alone and noiselessly, made the rounds 
of his camp. He aroused his bravest warriors, to the num- 
ber of twenty or thirty, by a single touch, and also those 
whom he desired to consult in this circumstance. They 
followed him, asking no questions, and were conducted to a 
solitary place in the vicinity of the camp. There, forming a 
circle and lighting a torch, the chief displayed the scalp, and 
related to them the adventure of the woman. 

The youngest of his counselors desired instant revenge on 
the Crows, but the prudent chief represented to them that 
the night was not a favorable time; besides, that having 
smoked together the calumet of peace, to kill them in their 
own lodges, and in the very camp of the Blackfeet, would 
be at variance with all their customs and practices, and 
would draw upon them the contempt of all other Indian 
nations. He, however, commanded them to hold themselves 
armed and ready at daybreak. 

The Crows rose early. The>' were somewhat surprised to 



AND ARE CALLED TO ACCOUNT. IO4I 

see the lodges they occupied surrounded by a band of four 
or five hundred warriors, armed and mounted on their 
fleetest coursers, and with countenances far from friendly, 
as on the previous eve. But Indians are not easily discon- 
certed; they awaited the result in silence. As soon as day- 
light appeared in the camp, Spotted Deer convened a grand 
council and summoned the Crow deputies to appear. They 
at once obeyed, and took their places with the air of haughty 
indifference, peculiar to the Indian, in the centre of a circle 
of enemies who were burning with vengeance. When all 
were in order Spotted Deer arose, and thus addressed the 
Crows : " Strangers, only yesterday you arrived in our 
camp. You declared yourselves the deputies of your princi- 
pal chiefs, sent to conclude with us, hitherto your foes, a 
solid and durable treaty of peace. We listened to your mes- 
sage. Your words and propositions seemed reasonable and 
advantageous. All our lodges have been open to you; you 
have shared in our feasts and hospitality; you joined in our 
games. Yesterday we had the intention of showing you 
today still greater liberality. But, before discoursing fur- 
ther, I have one single question to ask you. Crows ! I must 
have an answer ; and that answer will decide whether peace 
be possible, or whether a war of destruction must continue." 
Then drawing the scalp from the bullet-pouch, and display- 
ing it before them, he cried : " Tell me, Crows, whose hair 
is this? Who among you claims this trophy?" Those of 
the Crows who were ignorant of the affair, looked on with 
amazement, and could only imagine that the Blackfeet 
sought a pretext for quarreling. No one replied. The chief 
resumed: " Will no one answer? Must I call a woman to 
question these Crow braves?" Then beckoning to the 
stealer of the scalp, he said to her, " Show us to which war- 
rior this trophy belongs." Without hesitation, she pointed 
to one of the brothers. Every eye was fixed upon him. The 
chief, Spotted Deer, approaching the murderer, said to him, 
" Knowest thou this scalp ? Didst thou take it ? Fearest 
thou now to avow it? " With one bound the young Crow 
66 



1042 A PROPER PROGRAM IS ARRANGED 

placed himself opposite the chief, and shouted : " Spotted 
Deer, I fear not ! It is I who took the scalp ! If I endeav- 
ored to conceal it, I did so with the desire of doing more 
evil! Thou askest whose hair is this. Look at the hairy- 
fringe of thy shirt and thy leggins. In my turn, I ask, whose 
hair is that? Belongs it not to my two brothers, slain by 
thee or thine, hardly two moons ago? or belongs it not to 
the relations of some Crow here present? 'Tis vengeance 
brings me here ! My brother holds in his shotbag the com- 
panion of this scalp. We determined, before leaving the 
camp, to cast into thy face these bloody tufts, at the same 
moment, as our challenge of defiance." 

This language determined the Blackfeet. " Young man, 
thou hast spoken well," replied Spotted Deer ; " thou art 
valiant and fearest not death, which will strike thee and thy 
companions in a few moments. Yet we have smoked the 
calumet together. It is not suitable that the ground on 
which that ceremony took place should drink thy blood. 
See, Crows, the hill before you ! It is in the way that leads 
to your lodges. So far we allow you to go. When you get 
there, we will pursue you. Go on, and leave us." 

The Crows instantly left the place, and advanced toward 
the hill designated by the Blackfoot chief, determined to 
sell their lives dearly in this unequal combat. Their enemies 
mounted their horses, and awaited with ardor the order for 
the pursuit. 

As soon as the Crows reached the hill, the terrific war- 
whoop — the Sassaskzvi — resounded through the camp. 
The Blackfeet, burning to avenge the outrage received, 
rushed forward with the greatest impetuosity. The Crows, 
after running some moments, found a deep ravine excavated 
in the plain by the running waters : judging the position 
favorable, they took refuge in it, and maintained themselves 
for some time. As soon as, in their first ardor, the Black- 
feet approached the ravine to dislodge them, a general dis- 
charge of muskets and arrows from the Crows killed eight 
Blackfeet, and wounded a great number. This discharge 



AND FULLY CARRIED OUT. IO43 

routed them, and forced them to draw off. The Blackfeet 
dismounted, and on foot there were several skirmishes be- 
tween the two bands ; but all were disadvantageous to the 
Blackfeet, for the Crows were protected in the hole, and only 
showed their heads through necessity, while their enemies 
fought in the open plain. A great number of Blackfeet lost 
their lives in these different attempts, while the Crows lost 
not a man. Spotted Deer, seeing the danger and the useless 
destruction of so many warriors, made an appeal to his 
braves. He proposed to them to place himself at their head, 
and to fall simultaneously on their enemies. His proposi- 
tion was accepted; the warwhopp resounded anew through 
the bloody plain; they attacked the Crows en masse, and 
after having discharged on them their guns and arrows, 
armed only with their daggers and tomahawks, they darted 
with confused violence into the ravine, and in a few mo- 
ments horribly massacred the whole band. In this last 
attack it is worth noting that not a single Blackfoot lost 
his life. 

The combat ended, the scalps were carried off by the war- 
riors who had most distinguished themselves in the affair. 
The women cut the corpses of their slain in such small pieces, 
that it would be difficult to detect among them the smallest 
trace of the human form. The scalps, with all the torn 
scraps of flesh, were then attached as trophies to the extrem- 
ities of poles and lances, and triumphantly borne through 
the camp, mid chants of victory, yells of rage, with howling 
and vociferations against their enemies. There was also a 
general mourning, caused by the loss of so many warriors 
fallen in this horrible engagement. Since that day, war con- 
tinues without relaxation to the present time. 

This shocking recital I learned in 185 1, on that very bat- 
tle-field, and from a chief who was in the engagement. 

I request you, in a special manner, to pray very particu- 
larly for these poor Indians. During fourteen years they 
have implored the favor of having some of our Fathers sent 
to them. The scripture, " They asked bread, and there was 



1044 SOME LEARNING REGARDING FIRE. 

none to break it to them," may be justly quoted in regard 
to them. In my short visits to them I have been touched 
with their affabihty, their beneficent hospitahty and the re- 
spectful attention they gave to my instructions. I augur 
very favorably of their good dispositions, and am convinced 
that two or three fervent and zealous missionaries could 
gather consoling fruits for religion from these barbarians, 
who sigh to know and practice the gospel of peace. Since 
my last interview with them in 1851 I have received several 
letters from them. 

Do not forget me in your prayers and be so good as to 
remember me to the Fathers and brothers of St. Michael's 
College. 



Fire-ivorship. 

St. Louis, Nov. 14, 1857. 

Reverend and Very Dear Father ^'^ 

The ancient worship of fire exists among our Indians 
from time immemorial. It is found in their traditions, as 
in the history of almost all the nations which have had 
temples and altars in which was a pyre, a hearth, a brasier, 
in order to entertain continually the fire used in their sac- 
rifices. The Greeks adored fire under the name of Haitos, 
and the Latins under the name of Vesta. Father Charle- 
voix represents the tribes of Louisiana, and especially the 
ancient tribe of the Natchez, as keeping up a perpetual fire 
in all their medicine lodges or temples. Among the Moquis 
of New Mexico the sacred fire is constantly maintained by 
aged men. They believe that great misfortunes will afflict 
the whole tribe should the fire be extinguished. 

^1 Letter XLIV, Second Series, Cinqnantc NoiiveUcs Lettres; Letter 
XVII, Second Series, Western Missions and Missionaries. The latter 
text is here followed. 



SOME MEXICAN UNSPEAKABLES. IO45 

The superstitious devotion to fire was general among the 
Mexicans at the period of the Conquest. In a book en- 
titled, Inie Calotle in lUmicac, or Way to Heaven, printed 
in 1607 and 161 2, we see that each one of the eighteen 
months of the Mexican year was consecrated to a particular 
divinity, honored by festivals more or less solemn, and al- 
most always by human sacrifices. 

The first month, which begun on the second of February, 
was consecrated to Altachuala, god of the detention of 
waters; the second, to the destroying god of nations; the 
third, to the god of the zvaters; the fourth, to the god of 
maize; the fifth, falling about Easter, to the god Tezcat- 
lipoca, which was the Jupiter of the Romans ; the ninth was 
consecrated to the god of war. 

The tenth month, called Xocolh-huetzi, began on the 4th 
of August. Then took place the great feast of the god of 
fire, or Xiichten-hetli, with numerous human sacrifices. 
They thrust living men into the flames. When these were 
half-burnt, but still alive, they tore out the heart, in presence 
of the image of the god. Then they planted in the middle of 
the court of the temple a lofty tree, round which they per- 
formed a thousand ceremonies and sacrifices worthy of the 
founder of this feast. It lasted longer than the others. 

In the eleventh month falls the festival of Toci, mother 
of the gods ; on the twelfth, that of the Coming of the gods; 
on the thirteenth, the Feasts upon the mountains; the fif- 
teenth month was reserved to the god of war, and the seven- 
teenth to the god of the rains. 

The 1 2th of January commenced, with the eighteenth 
month, called Itzcali, another feast of fire. Two days pre- 
vious (the loth), in the middle of the night, they kindled 
the new -fire before the idol of the god, elegantly orna- 
mented. With this fire they lighted a grand pile. The 
hunters brought all that they had killed or fished from the 
waters, and presented it to the priest, who cast it into the 
furnace. Then all the assistants were obliged to eat very 
hot the tamaliUos, that is to say, little loaves of corn-meal 



1046 MORE MEXICAN LORE. 

containing a small portion of roasted meat. What was 
most singular in this festival, is that, three successive years, 
no human victim was immolated, and the fourth year, the 
number of victims surpassed that of other feasts. The 
king in person and the lords presented themselves in the 
midst of this heap of corpses to dance, and all sung, with 
respect and solemnity, the reserved chant, which they call 
in their language, N eteuhicuicaliztli. 

In a Treatise on the Idolatry and Superstitions of the 
Mexicans, a manuscript of 1629, we perceive that what par- 
ticularly attracted the veneration of the Mexicans was fire. 
For this reason this element presided at the birth, and at 
almost all the actions of life among these victims of error. 
The infant was born in this superstition. At the moment 
of its birth, fire was kindled in the room of the mother, and 
it was maintained four consecutive days, without removing 
any of it. They believed that if the live coals were drawn 
out, a cloud would suddenly appear over the eye of the 
newly born. On the fourth day the elders took the child 
and the fire out of the chamber ; then they passed the fire 
four times round the child's head, twice in one direction 
and twice in its opposite. Then the new-born infant re- 
ceived its name, which was in general that of the animal or 
of the element to which its birthday was consecrated t— as 
the alligator, the serpent, the tiger, the eagle, etc. ; or the 
water, the fire, the house, etc. 

In the different sacrifices, tapers and incense almost 
always had a share. 

We also find among them a mythological recital, which 
shows that a personage, formerly covered with leprosy, ob- 
tained the empire of the future world, for having passed by 
the ordeal of fire, and was transformed into the sun, to the 
great disappointment of other great personages who shrank 
from the test. Is this the cause of their respect for fire, 
and the reason why they attribute to it a mysterious power? 
The Potawatomies say that Chipiapoos, or the Dead-man, is 
the grand manitou that presides in the country of souls and 



SACRED CHARACTER OF FIRE. IO47 

there maintains the sacred fire, for the happiness of all those 
of his race who arrive there. I have spoken of it in my 
Oregon Missions, p. 350.^^ 

Fire is, in all the Indian tribes that I have known, an 
emblem of happiness or of good fortune. It is kindled 
before all their deliberations. " Having extinguished the 
enemy's fire," signifies with them to have gained the vic- 
tory. They attribute to fire a sacred character, which is 
remarkable everywhere in their usages and customs, espe- 
cially in their religious ceremonies. They generally main- 
tain mysterious ideas concerning the substance and phenom- 
ena of fire, which they consider supernatural. To see a fire 
rising mysteriously, in their dreams or otherwise, is the 
symbol of the passage of a soul into the other world. Be- 
fore consulting the manitous, or tutelary spirits, or before 
addressing the dead, they begin by kindling the sacred fire. 
This fire must be struck from a flint, or reach them mys- 
teriously by lightning, or in some other way. To light the 
sacred fire with common fire, would be considered among 
them as a grave and dangerous transgression. 

The Chippewas of the North kindle a fire on every new 
tomb, during four successive nights. They say that this 
symbolical and sacred light illumines their solitary and ob- 
scure passage to the country of souls. The following is the 
origin of this sacred and funereal fire among this people. I 
received the legend from the mouth of our worthy 
Watomika. 

A little war-party of Chippewas met some enemies in a 
large and beautiful plain. The war-whoop was instantly 
shouted, and the contest commenced. Their chief was a 
valiant and distinguished warrior. On this occasion he 
surpassed himself in bravery, and a great number of his 

12 Longfellow has embodied this legend of Chipiapoos in his poem, 
" Hiawatha," but ascribes it to a plagiarist, who copied Father De 
Smet's narrative without the least credit. — Editor [of 1859 Ed. De 
Smet's Potawatomi letter was written January, 1847 ; Schoolcraft's 
five-volume work, 1853-56; Hiawatha, 1854-55]. 



1048 A CHIPPEWA FIRE LEGEND. 

enemies fell beneath the redoubled blows of his tomahawk. 
He was giving the signal and the cry of victory to his 
braves in arms, when he received an arrow in his breast 
and fell lifeless on the plain. The warrior who receives his 
last blow in the act of combating is never buried. Accord- 
ing to the ancient custom, he remains seated on the battle- 
field, his back resting against a tree, and his face turned in 
the direction which indicates the flight of his enemies. It 
was the case with this chief. His grand crest of eagle 
feathers was properly adjusted on his head — each plume 
denoted a trophy or a scalp won in combat. His face was 
carefully painted. They clothed him and adorned him 
with his most beautiful habiliments, as though he were 
yet alive. All his equipment was placed at his side, his bow 
aijd quiver of arrows, of which he had made such noble 
usage in war, reposing on his shoulder. The " post of the 
brave " was planted before him in solemn ceremony. He 
received all the honors due to an heroic and illustrious 
warrior. The rites, the chants, the funereal speeches, all, 
all were celebrated according to the custom of his nation in 
similar circumstances. His companions at length offered 
him their last farewells. No one had the slightest doubt of 
his death — of the glorious death of their great chief. 
Were they deceived? The sequel of the legend will show. 
Although deprived of speech and of all other means of 
giving signs of life, the chief heard distinctly all the words 
of the songs and of the discourses, the cries, the lamenta- 
tions, and the bravadoes of his warriors. He witnessed 
their gestures, their dances, and all their ceremonies around 
the " post of honor." His icy hand was sensible to the 
pressure of the friendly grasp ; his lips, though pale and 
livid, felt the ardor and heat of the farewell embrace and 
salute, without his being able to return it. Perceiving him- 
self thus forsaken, his anguish became excessive, as also his 
desire to accompany his companions in their return to the 
village. When he saw them disappear one after the other, 
his spirit agitated him in such a manner, that he made a 



THE DEAD CHIEFS DISTRESS. IO49 

violent movement — he arose, or rather seemed to rise, and 
followed them. His form was invisible to them. This was 
for him a new cause of surprise and contradiction, which 
swelled at once his grief and his despair. However, he 
determined to follow them closely. Wheresoever they 
went, he went also. When they marched, he marched ; 
whether riding or on foot, he was in their midst. He 
camped with them; he slept by their side; he awoke with 
them. In short, he shared in all their fatigues, in all their 
troubles, in all their labors. While he enjoyed the pleasure 
of their conversation, while he was present at their repasts, 
no drink was presented to allay his thirst, no dishes to ap- 
pease his hunger. His questions and his responses equally 
remained without response. " Warriors ! my braves ! " 
cried he, with bitterness and anguish ; " do you not hear the 
voice of your chief? Look! Do you not see my form? 
You remain motionless — you seem not to see and hear me. 
Stanch the blood which is flowing from the deep wound I 
have received. Suffer me not to die deprived of aid, to 
famish amid abundance. O you braves ! whom I led often 
into the thickest of the fight, who have always been obedi- 
ent to my voice, already you seem to forget me ! One drop 
of water to quench my feverish thirst — one mouthful of 
sustenance ! In my distress, how dare you refuse me ! " 

At each halt, he addressed them in alternate supplication 
and reproach, but in vain. No one understood his words. 
If they heard his voice, it was rather for them as the pas- 
sage or the whispered murmurs of the wind of summer 
through the foliage and branches of the forest, unnoticed 
and unheeded. 

In fine, after a long and painful journey, the war-party 
arrived on the summit of a lofty eminence, which over- 
looked the whole village. The warriors prepared to make 
their solemn entrance. They decorated themselves with 
their handsomest ornaments, carefully painted their faces, 
attached to themselves their victorious trophies, especially 
scalps, which they fastened on the ends of their bows, toma- 



1050 UNSEEN IN THE VILLAGE. 

hawks and lances. Then burst forth a unanimous shout, the 
cry of joy and of victory of the Chippewas, the " Kumaud- 
jeewug! Kumaudjeewug! Kumaudjeewug! '' — that is to 
say, they have met ; or, they have fought ; or, they have con- 
quered. This enthusiastic shout resounded throughout the 
whole camp. According to custom, the women and chil- 
dren went forth to meet the warriors, in order to honor their 
return and proclaim their praises. Those who had lost 
some members of their family approached with anxiety 
and eagerness, to find out whether they were really dead, 
and to assure themselves that they died valiantly, in bat- 
tling with the enemy. The old man, bowed by the weight 
of years, consoles himself for the loss of a son, if he sank 
like a brave man, arms in hand ; and the grief of the youth- 
ful widow loses all its bitterness when she hears the praises 
bestowed' on the manes of her valiant spouse. The stirring 
recitals of the combat awaken a martial fire in the hearts 
of all the youth ; and children, yet incapable of understand- 
ing the cause of the grand festival, mingle their infantine 
shouts of joy and gladness with the boisterous and reiter- 
ated acclamations of the whole tribe. 

Amid all this clamor and all these rejoicings, no one was 
conscious of the presence of the great war chief. He heard 
the information that his near relations and his friends re- 
ceived concerning his fortunes. He listened to the recital 
of his bravery, of his lofty deeds, of his glorious death in 
the midst of his vanquished enemies. He heard them 
speak of the post of the brave, planted in his honor on the 
field of battle. " Here I am ! " cried he ; " I see ! I walk ! 
Look at me ! Touch me ! I am not dead ! Tomahawk 
in hand, I shall renew my march against the enemy, at the 
head of my braves ; and soon, in the banquet, you will hear 
the tones of my drum! " No one heard him; no one per- 
ceived him. The voice of the great chief was no more to 
them than the perpetual din of the falling waters from cas- 
cade to cascade at the foot of their village. Impatient, he 
took the direction of his lodge. There he found his wife 



TAKES REFUGE IN THE FIRE. IO5I 

in deep despair, cutting, in token of mourning, her long 
and floating locks, lamenting her misfortune, the loss of a 
cherished husband, and the desolate state of her orphan chil- 
dren. He strove to undeceive her, and to comfort her with 
words of tenderness; he sought to clasp his infants in his 
arms ; but here again, vain and futile were his efforts ; they 
remained insensible to his voice and his paternal caresses. 
The mother, bathed in tears, sat inclining her head between 
her hands. The chief, suffering and dejected, besought her 
to dress his deep wound, to apply to it the herbs and roots 
contained in his medicine sack ; but she moved not ; she an- 
swered only with tears and groans. Then he approached 
his mouth close to the ear of his wife, and shouted aloud, 
*' I am thirsty ! I am hungry ! Give me food and drink ! " 
The woman thought she heard a rumbling in her ear, and 
spoke of it to her companions. The chief, in his vexation, 
struck her a severe blow on the brow. She quietly pressed 
her hand to the stricken place, and said, " I feel a slight 
headache." 

Frustrated at every step, and in all his attempts to make 
himself known, the great chief began to reflect on what he 
had heard, in his youth, from the distinguished jugglers. 
He had learned that sometimes the spirit or soul quits the 
body and wanders up and down at hazard, according to its 
own will and pleasure. He therefore thought that per- 
chance his body was lying on the field of battle, and that 
his spirit only had accompanied the warriors on their return 
to the village. He instantly resolved to return by the path 
he had pursued, at a distance of four days' march. The 
three first days he met no one. In the afternoon of the 
fourth, when approaching the battle-field, he remarked a fire 
in the centre of the path which he was following. Wish- 
ing to avoid it, he quitted the track ; but the fire, at the same 
instant, changed position, and placed itself before him. In 
vain he tried to go from right to left, the same mysterious 
fire ever preceded him, as if to bar his entrance to the field 
of battle. " I also," said he to himself, " I am a spirit; I 



1052 HE LIVES ONCE MORE 

am seeking to return into my body; I will accomplish my 
design. Thou wilt purify me, but thou shalt not hinder 
the realization of my project. I have always conquered 
my enemies, notwithstanding the greatest obstacles. This 
day I will triumph over thee, Spirit of Fire ! " he said, and, 
with an intense effort, he darted through the mysterious 
flame. 

He came forth from a long trance. He found himself 
seated on the battle-ground, his back supported against the 
tree. His bow, his arrows, his clothes, his ornaments, his 
war accoutrements, the post of the brave, all were in the 
same state and occupied the same position in which his 
soldiers had left them on the day of strife. He raised his 
eyes and perceived a large eagle, perched on the highest 
branch of a tree above his head. Instantly he recogni;ied 
his manitou bird, the same that had appeared to him in his 
earlier days, when he came forth from the state of child- 
hood; the bird that he had selected for his tutelary spirit, 
and of which he had always worn a talon suspended from 
his neck. His manitou had carefully guarded his body, 
and had prevented the vultures and other birds of prey from 
devouring it. The chief arose, stood some minutes, but 
found himself weak and reduced. The blood from his 
wound had ceased to flow, and he dressed it. He was ac- 
quainted with the efflcacy of certain leaves and roots suit- 
able for healing bruises. He sought them, gathered them 
with care in the forest, and crushing some between two 
stones, applied them. He chewed and swallowed others. 

After the lapse of a few days, he felt sufficient strength 
to attempt to return to his village ; but hunger consumed 
him. In the absence of large animals, he lived on little birds 
that his arrows brought down, insects and reptiles, roots 
and berries. After many hardships, he arrived at length 
on the shore of a river that separated him from wife, chil- 
dren and friends. The chief uttered the shout agreed upon 
in such circumstances, the shout of the happy return of an 
absent friend. The signal was heard. A canoe was im- 



AND COMES TO TEACH HIS PEOPLE. IO53 

mediately sent for him. During the absence of the canoe, 
the conjectures were numerous concerning the absent per- 
son, whose friendly voice of approach had just been heard. 
All those who had belonged to the war-party were present 
in the camp. The dead alone remained on the field of bat- 
tle. " Might not the unknown on the other shore be an 
absent hunter ? Or might not this shout prove a bold ruse 
of an enemy to take the scalps of the rowers? " To send 
a canoe was therefore judged imprudent, because they were 
not sure of the absence of an individual from the village. 

While on the opposite shore all these conjectures were 
increasing, the war-chief embarks. He soon presents him- 
self before them, amid the acclamations and joyful shouts 
of all his relatives and friends. The Indians eagerly pour 
forth from every lodge to shake hands and celebrate the 
happy return of their chief and faithful conductor. That 
day will be for them ever memorable and solemn. They 
return thanks to the Master of Life, and to all the manitous 
of the Indian calendar, for the preservation and return of 
their beloved chief. The whole day is consumed in dances, 
songs and banquets. 

When the first burst of astonishment and universal joy 
had a little subsided, and the usual tranquillity was restored 
to the village, the chief beat his drum in order to convene 
his people. He related to them the whole story of his ex- 
traordinary adventures, and terminated his recital by mak- 
ing known to them, and imposing on them, " the worship 
of the sacred and funereal fire " — that is to say, the cere- 
mony which consists in maintaining, during four consecu- 
tive nights, a fire on every newly-closed sepulchre. He told 
them that this devotion is advantageous and agreeable to 
the soul of the deceased ; that the distance to the country of 
souls is four long days; that in this journey the soul needs 
a fire every night in its encampment ; that this funereal fire, 
kindled on the tomb by the near relations of the departed, 
serves to enlighten and warm the soul during its peregrina- 
tion. The Chippewas believe that when this religious rite 



I054 CIVILIZATION A RELATIVE TERM. 

is neglected, the soul or spirit is forced to discharge the 
difficult task of making and maintaining a fire itself, and 
that with the greatest inconvenience. 

Here I am, dear Father, at the close of the legend of the 
Chippewas. I give it as I received it. I am assured that 
it is very ancient. The worship of fire among our Indians 
springs from the worship of the primitive pagans, who, in 
order to purify themselves, leaped over fire, either a myste- 
rious one, or lighted in honor of some divinity. The laws 
of Moses prohibited this practice among the Jews. 

Yet one word more. Reverend Father, and I finish this 
lengthy epistle. If you will read over one of my former 
letters, you will there find that in my visit to the Crows, 
camped at the base of the Rocky Mountains, I was the ob- 
ject of an extreme veneration among these savages. Why? 
I was considered as the bearer or the guardian of the " mys- 
terious fire." In effect, I carried a box of phosphoric 
matches in the pocket of my soutane. The savages per- 
ceived that I used them to light my pipe or their calumet. 
In a second visit I learned the cause, very futile in itself, 
which had attached such great importance to my poor 
person. 

I receive from time to time news from these poor and 
unfortunate pagans. They do not forget the visits which 
they have received, and I certainly never forget these dear 
children of my heart. They continue to beg, earnestly, 
every year, that missionaries be sent them to baptize their 
children and instruct them in the holy faith, which can 
alone render them happy here and hereafter. 

You asked me one day, Reverend Father, in an excursion 
which we made together during my last visit in Belgium, 
" What is the degree of civilization of the tribes that you 
have visited ? " I replied to you : " I do not know all that 
Europeans wish us to comprehend by the word ciz'iliaation. 
These savages are spoken of as exceptional beings, pos- 
sessing another nature. They are men like ourselves. They 



MEDICAL PRACTICE AMONG THE SENECAS. IO55 

only differ from us because they are ignorant, poor, and un- 
fortunate. But their hearts are so good ! There are some 
who have much natural ability, and what is more valuable, 
a great deal of faith and virtue! " Is not the close of my 
letter a confirmation of what I said to you? What grati- 
tude! What desire to know God! If, therefore, there is 
question of civilization of souls for heaven, oh ! we have no 
need of European civilizers. Cause prayers to be offered 
that God may send us missionaries, and we will make them 
happy ! 

I commend all these dear savages, our brethren in Jesus 
Christ, redeemed by the same blood, and inclosed in the 
same Sacred Heart — I commend them all most earnestly 
to your holy sacrifices, and to your kind prayers. 

Deign to believe me, with the most profound respect. 
Reverend Father, 

Rse. Vae. servus in Christo, 

P. J. De SMET, S. J. 



Great Medicine Dance among the Senecas}^ 
(As related to me by the Chief of the Six Nations.) 

When one is sick among the Senecas, or when an epi- 
demic rages in their camp or village, in ordinary times, 
the medicine band or jugglers are applied to by the fam- 
ily of the sick patient, or by the village. They implore 
their assistance, from the relief of the evil spirits who have 
taken possession, or entered the body or bodies of their 
relatives. In the first case, should the family be rich in 
horses, and have plenty of other worldly goods, it pays 
abundantly for the operation. In an epidemic or general 
calamity, the performance is always gratis. 

The chief of the medicine band calls on his devotees and 

13 From the Linton Album. 



1056 THEY COLLECT THEIR POWER 

they assemble either in a lodge or cabin, from which every 
ray of light is excluded. All enter the dark abode, dressed 
in their most fantastic apparel, their faces all covered with 
the most hideous painted masks, roughly carved out of light 
wood. Each carries his medicine bag. Their gestures 
and movements are all unnatural, they hop and dance, they 
cut all sorts of shines and whimsical pranks, turning their 
heads right and left as they move along and enter the dark 
hall. A table is placed in the middle. On it each attend- 
ant deposits his medicine bag. Utter silence is observed 
by all. An occasional groan, or rather grunt, is heard 
now and then. All squat down on the naked floor, until the 
first sign for operation be given. The hovering of the 
eagle, high and distant above the hall, is heard at last, 
breaking in upon the deep silence that reigned within. The 
flapping of the eagle's wings and its shrill notes become 
more and more distinct, as the great medicine bird lowers 
and finally, with a loud piercing sound, announces its pres- 
ence in their midst. ^'^ The :hief, or Great Medicine Man, 
then arises and opens the feast, in which nothing else is 
used than the boiled heads of deer, already cooked for the 
great occasion. He seizes one head, with both hands, 
gives the sound of the ravenous crow, pouncing upon its 
prey, and he devours his portion. The deer heads, in suc- 
cession, are passed around the circle, each member repeating 
the cry of the pouncing crow, until all the meat has been 
consumed and the bones left bare. Then the dancing, the 
beating of drums, and the sound of the Indian flute, ac- 
companied with unearthly sounds and stamping of feet, all 
keeping time with the music — thus the night passes in 
revels. When twilight begins to appear, the curtains are 
all withdrawn. The stage or cabin is then wide opened. 
Each juggler takes up his medicine bag, in which he finds 

^* The flapping of the eagle's wings and its screechings are per- 
formed by an amateur of the musical band, who draws the various 
eagle sounds from his flute. — Author's Note. 



AND PROCEED TO APPLY IT. I057 

a new supply of medicines, all carefully and mysteriously 
arranged by an invisible spirit." Each carries in his hand 
the empty skin of a snapping turtle, holding it by the neck, 
the chief badge of the medicine confraternity. The turtle 
contains some small water-worn pebbles, which they rattle 
as they come out, exhibiting the same gestures and move- 
ments as on entering the medicine hall on the preceding 
evening. 

Then they proceed to the sick man's lodge or cabin, 
hopping and dancing around the dwelling, shaking their 
snapping turtle shells, and making hideous and unnatural 
sounds through the nostrils, in imitation of the owl — all 
this to frighten off the evil spirit and drive it out of the 
body of the patient. After having made several rounds, 
the chief medicine man throws open the entrance, falls his 
full length on the floor and drags himself along, in all sorts 
of antics, keeping up meanwhile his rattling and his gut- 
tural sounds and cries. He goes under the bed, removes 
every object, searches and passes in every nook and crook, 
tumbles in the fire and handles the glowing coals, ^^ which 
he scatters around the sickroom. After this long perform- 
ance and operation, they all join in a common dance, ac- 
companied by the sharp rattling turtles and the guttural 
gibbering songs, and the scene closes, the evil spirit is put 
to flight and they receive their pay. Should the patient 
recover, the Indian medicine men have wrought a great 
new wonder, and they receive all the credit for the cure. 
On the contrary, if the sick man dies, to another more pow- 
erful spirit the death of the patient is cunningly attributed. 

15 The renewal of the mysterious medicine bags is made by one of 
the confraternity under the dark veil of the night. — Author's Note. 

16 The handling of the red-hot coals is attributed to the hands and 
other exposed parts of the body being besmeared with the sap of a 
certain weed, which protects against burns and renders them insensible 
lo heat. — Author's Note. 

67 



1058 BUSINESS OF AN INDIAN CAMP. 

Grass Dance among the Yanktons}^ 

When one enters an Indian camp, whatever be the size 
of it, 100 to 200 lodges or 800 to 1,000 souls, one is struck 
by the order and tranquillity that prevail. Among them as 
everywhere else the children are playing with all their 
might at their little innocent games, their bows and arrows 
or balls, or running races. The women are about their 
usual housework which is various and ample enough. They 
do the cooking, cut the wood and go for water. They work 
the skins of the animals killed in the chase — that is, they 
remove the hair from the hide, dry it, scrape it, tan it and 
paint it; they soften the skins to be used for garments, 
which they afterward embroider with porcupine quills or 
beads of various colors. Besides all this, they have the 
entire care of their little papooses or children; they are 
always and everywhere industriously occupied. The men 
look after the horses, make bows and arrows, prepare and 
dry their smoking herb (kinikinik) or busy themselves 
about useful or purely fanciful matters. Their favorite oc- 
cupation is to smoke the calumet in peace, eat a good piece 
of broiled buffalo or deer and then take a nap or else chat 
over the news of the day and the future movements of the 
camp. Though less perhaps than civilized countries, still 
the Indian camps also have their idlers and loafers, their 
good-for-nothings who kill time before the mirror, daub- 
ing their faces with colors and adorning themselves from 
head to foot. 

On the other hand, upon the arrival of a person whom 
they desire to honor, everything is life and movement in 
the camp; everybody is on foot to celebrate their guest's 
visit. He passes through a long series of handshakes and 
later he is honored with a serenade accompanied with a 
dance. The dances are extremely varied and animated,. 

17 Letter to Father Terwecoren, dated November, 1867. Translated 
from the French. 



DANCES OF ALL SORTS. I059 

and if the visitor stays long enough, they give him the 
whole series. On each occasion a large circle of dancers 
is formed, all hideously painted. The musicians begin to 
beat their drums and tambourines and all accompany the 
music with a measured chant varied with piercing yells, 
grunts and roars to accentuate the rhythm. When the 
women's voices are added, the vocal part of the perform- 
ance is soft, plaintive and melodious. The dance is often 
a combination of different dances. Here is a list of the 
principal ones: the Chief's dance, the Beggar's dance, the 
Buffalo and Corn dances, the dance of the Dead, the Mar- 
riage dance, and the dance of Return from War, accom- 
panied with prisoners and sacrifices. The war dance is 
everywhere the most important and most varied ; it is the 
faithful image of an Indian battle-field. It represents the 
departure of the warriors, their arrival in the enemy's coun- 
try, the attack, the scalping, their triumphal return to the 
tribe and the torture of the prisoners. They put a lively 
enthusiasm into these dances ; their ardor and activity form 
a striking contrast to the stoical repose of their ordinary 
way of life. 

After this explanatory preface, I propose to give you 
the details of the Grass dance instituted by the good chief 
Pananniapapi before his conversion to the faith. He is 
the head chief of the Yankton tribe, which consists of nearly 
3,000 souls and belongs to the Sioux nation. 

Among the Indians each tribe has its societies or associa- 
tions. The principal one among the Yanktons is called 
the Grass band or Pcjimakinnanka. All the braves, or men 
of heart, as the Indians express it, belong to this fraternity. 
All the members enter into a solemn engagement : first, co 
avoid quarrels among themselves and to submit any differ- 
ences which may arise to the arbitration of two or three 
wise men. That is their supreme court, improvised for 
the occasion, and there is no appeal from its decision : the 
result is generally happy and they live in good understand- 
ing and great harmony : second, the society undertakes to 



I060 THE BRETHREN WORK THE LODGE 

give aid and assistance to the weak, to protect the widow 
and orphan and to succor the sick and the stranger in need. 

At the ceremonial dances each member carries a long 
bunch of grass, which is among them the emblem of abun- 
dance and charity. It is the grass that nourishes their 
horses and domestic animals, and fattens the buffalo, the 
deer, the elk, the bighorn and the antelope of the plains and 
mountains. Their horses carry all their belongings in their 
periodical migrations and they ride them on their travels 
and to the chase. The flesh of the wild animals nourishes 
them and their skins serve them for winter and summer gar- 
ments, for bed and blankets. The skin of the buffalo 
especially serves in the construction of their canoes and 
skiffs and their comfortable lodges and tents, and furnishes 
them cords and everything necessary for the making of 
their saddles and bridles. The Grass band willingly shares 
the fruits of the chase with the orphan, the widow, the old 
man and the stranger. 

It is especially in the spring, when the grass is tender 
and sweet, that their ceremonial dances take place. The 
badge or distinctive mark of the society is the bunch of 
grass braided and attached to the waist of each member in 
the form and appearance of a long tail. 

At the first signal given by the master of ceremonies all 
the brethren are on foot carefully painted and in their finest 
costumes. They form a large circle, brandish their weapons, 
whether guns, lances, war-clubs, bows and arrows or any 
other arms which have been the instrument of some heroic 
act either in war or in the chase. All their movements are 
in strict time to the sound of the drum, tambourine, flute 
and gourd filled with pebbles. While they leap and dance 
with fantastic gestures and capers, each brother in his turn 
sings his Dozvampi or song, recounting his lofty deeds of 
valor or his heroic charities. The choruses in which all 
join are full of sarcasm of cowardice and avarice. Each 
dancer seems to have a pirouette and to take a position all 
his own. They jump up and down and the ground seems to 



AND REFRESHMENTS FOLLOW. I061 

tremble beneath the beating of their feet. They wind in 
and out and turn in every direction, right and left, in an 
admirable confusion, keeping time with the deafening sound 
of the wild music. 

The dance is always followed by a feast. The guests 
usually being numerous, it takes place in the open on the 
place of their meeting. A circle is formed about the boiling 
kettles and the roasting meat, which are more or less nu- 
merous according to the number invited. Every guest car- 
ries his plate or dish. The master of ceremonies chosen 
for the occasion is he who has received the most dangerous 
wounds in war. Eg-gha-kata-matscha, or Mean Deer, is 
today the head of the society. He received a bullet in a 
fight with his enemies, which passed through his right arm 
and all his chest; still he recovered. In the dance it is he 
who rises first and sets the pace. After the dance it is he 
again who first touches the boiling kettles and the roasting 
meats. Each number of the band helps himself after him 
and the invited guests follow. Ever}^ one eats and does 
honor to his piece and drinks his soup and coffee amid the 
most joyous and animated conversation. 

Permit me to add the remark that the dances of the In- 
dians (except the Scalp dance, which really makes one shud- 
der) are generally modest and innocent. The sexes are 
never mingled. The men dance by themselves and the 
women form a ring around them. These savage dances 
certainly exceed in propriety many dances in civilized 
countries. 



CHAPTER VII. 

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 

Primitive superstitions — The theory of Wakan or medicine — The 
creation legend — Sacrifice to avert evil — Dread of the unknown — 
Charms and amulets — The Creator approached through his works — 
Murder and vengeance — Robbery not wrong in itself — Ideas of a 
future state. 

St. Louis University, Sept., 1866. 
Reverend Dear Father: 

'^'HIS is a copy of a letter sent to Reverend Father Weld, 
^^ at his own request, for his Home Journal, should 
it meet with his approbation. I made a promise to Reverend 
Father Terwecoren to send him the same little production 
for his Precis Historiques, in which most of my letters 
have appeared. It was written during my leisure hours 
on the steamer Ontario, during my late long mission and 
trip to the Rocky Mountains. I take the liberty of sending 
it to your Reverence such as it was originally written. I 
will acknowledge to you that I have somewhat an inter- 
ested motive in doing so, however ; our old acquaintance 
and friendship gives me some little title, together with 
your thorough knowledge of the English and French lan- 
guages. Should you find time to glance over it and should 
you think it worthy of being published, it would afford me 
great honor and pleasure, if your Reverence were willing 
to undertake its translation. 

I have chosen for my subject the moral code and religious 
ideas of the western Indian nations who inhabit the upper 
plains watered by the Missouri river and its numerous tribu- 
taries. I am well aware that the task is rather a difficult 
one. I have made careful researches on the subject and 
have sought and obtained valuable information from intelli- 

[1062] 



INDIAN CAPACITY UNDERRATED, I063 

gent traders who have resided a number of years among 
the various Indian tribes of the West and have become 
famihar with their manners and customs. I mention with 
gratitude and pleasure the names of my principal informers 
and kind friends, Messrs. [E. T.] Denig, [Robert] Meldrum 
and [Alexander] Culbertson. 

Moral teachers have always thought it worth their while 
to examine into and thoroughly understand the people whom 
they are called upon to instruct and to analyze their re- 
ligion, superstitions, or moral code, if any, with a view to 
combat error effectively and to implant truth. There are 
no people amongst whom the Christian religion has yet been 
attempted more various and obstinate in their superstitions 
than the northwestern tribes of roving Indians, and not- 
withstanding much has been advanced by different writers 
and residents among them, we see but little that would 
serve to show a teacher in what their errors really consist, or 
how they may be successfully refuted. Most stories of 
travel among the Indians only exhibit some of their man- 
ners and customs at large without pointing out or reveal- 
ing their motives of actions. Indeed, nothing but a long 
and continued intimacy with their camp and language, the 
lot of very few, would enable them to do so. 

By most persons the capacity of the Indians has been 
greatly underrated. They are generally considered as low 
in intellect, wild men thirsting after blood, hunting for 
game or plunder, debased in their habits and groveling in 
their ideas. Quite the contrary is the case. They show 
order in their national government, order and dignity in 
the management of their domestic affairs, zeal in what they 
believe to be their religious duties, sagacity and shrewdness 
in their dealings and often a display of reasoning powers 
far above the medium of uneducated white men or Euro- 
peans. Their religion, as a system, is far superior to that of 
the inhabitants of Hindostan or Japan ; therefore to over- 
come this and establish the truths of Christianity, both their 
reason and feelings must be wrought upon by teachers pur- 



1064 INHERENT BELIEF IN GREAT SPIRIT. 

suing such a course of life and occupation as will convince 
them of the sincerity of their beliefs and endeavors. The 
grace of God operates meanwhile in their untutored minds 
and hearts to bring them to the knowledge of the true and 
holy faith, which he alone can give; as it is written in the 
holy scriptures: " Faith is a gift of God." 

It is therefore advisable to know what is the true nature 
of their religion when closely analyzed ; what are their ideas 
of the Creator, worship, of futurity; what in their opinion 
constitutes crime. Are crimes offenses to the Great Spirit 
or to the individual? Have they, or are they under, any 
moral obligation to serve the Great Spirit ? Are good deeds 
rewarded and bad ones punished in this life or in a future 
state? Do they believe in a future at all? How does this 
belief affect their course of action in this life? Are they 
in reality idolaters? and if so, in what and of what do their 
idols consist? These and other points bearing upon their 
moral conditions are what I propose to explain, though not 
perhaps in the order in which they stand. 

All these Indians believe in the existence of a Great 
Spirit, the Creator of all things, and this appears to be an 
inherent, original and inborn idea. They do not, however, 
embody it; it is a spirit. The name of this spirit is Wakan 
Tankah or Great Medicine. The word " medicine " in this 
case has no reference to the use of drugs, but means all that 
is incomprehensible, supernatural, all-powerful ; everything 
that cannot be explained by ordinary means, or that is above 
their comprehension. 

Their own priests or conjurers are likewise termed 
Wakan. A steamboat, a watch, any machinery, even toys 
of whose principle of motion they are ignorant, would be 
called Wakan — medicine. Now this great medicine, Wakan 
Tankah, refers to something greater than the power of 
man ; consequently the acts of the Great Spirit are mani- 
fested in the elements, natural phenomena, sickness and 
death, famine and distress, loss occasioned by invading foes, 



MANIFESTATIONS OF SPIRIT. I065 

Strokes of lightning, etc., in every way to them unaccount- 
able by natural means. 

They think this great medicine pervades all air, earth 
and sky; that it is omnipresent, omnipotent, but subject to 
be changed and enlisted on their side in any undertaking if 
the proper ceremonies and sacrifices are made. It is the 
author of both good and evil according to its pleasure, or 
in accordance w^ith their attention to their mode of worship. 

Its good acts are apparent in years of great abundance 
of game, seasons of health, triumph over enemies, etc. ; and 
the evil in great distress, losses, defeat, infectious diseases, 
or any other great misfortune, the cause of which is un- 
known and cannot otherwise be attributed. And as it sel- 
dom happens in their precarious life that the intervals be- 
tween accidents or calamities are long, this Great Spirit is 
more feared than loved. Its bounties are passed by un- 
heeded and unthanked, whilst its visitations are fearfully 
numbered. Power is its attribute and its residence is sup- 
posed by some to be in the sun. 

They do not acknowledge any separate existing spirit of 
evil, although they have a name for a being of the kind in 
their language; yet the idea has been implanted by the 
whites in late years and is by them but faintly realized. 
Great evil is a dispensation of the anger of the Great Spirit 
which it is in their power to avoid by making the proper 
sacrifices, prayers and fasts, which they all do; yet they 
make no demonstrations of thanks by offerings or otherwise 
when success has been the apparent result of their cere- 
monies. This would seem to prove that they believe the aid 
of the Great Spirit to have been bought, paid for, by the 
value of the articles sacrificed, or only a compliance with 
obligation on its part accruing from their personal infliction 
of pain. 

This great unknown spirit or medicine created all things 
— a few men and women of different colors first, from 
which original stock sprang the various races of mankind, 
whites, Indians, negroes, etc. The Indians, they say, are 



I066 PRAYER AND SACRIFICE. 

made naked, but with such quahfications as to suit a hunter 
— knowledge enough to make and use his arms at war or 
in the chase, a constitution to stand severe cold, long fast- 
ing, excessive fatigue and watchfulness, eyes to see, ears to 
hear, and legs to follow the game ; and therefore they soon 
felt their superiority over all animals. They believe that all 
animals are made especially for them, for if not for whom 
else? They only prey upon each other; besides, Indians 
could not live without meat. The earth was made for graz- 
ing the same animals, for planting corn and raising fuel, all 
for the use of the Indians. This in the beginning was the 
work of the Great Spirit. To this being then they make 
sacrifices and do penance by fasting, making incisions in 
their bodies and public pr.ayers several times a year. The 
sacrifices consist principally of scarlet cloth, new kettles, 
skins and furs, tobacco and other things, which with great 
solemnity and ceremony are presented to the sun and thun- 
der, the greatest mediums to which they may prove available 
with the Great Spirit ; at the same time the devotee utters a 
prayer, making requests of the things he most stands in 
need of, and promising a repetition of the sacrifices in case 
his demands are complied with. Afterward the article sacri- 
ficed is destroyed to prevent its falling into the hands of 
travelers or enemies. This ceremony is usually made by 
each Indian alone in his lodge, or on the hills, or in the for- 
ests or bushes, several times a year. 

Now although they sacrifice, pray, inflict severe punish- 
ment on their bodies and starve for days from religious mo- 
tives, yet all this is only to procure present and temporal 
advantages. We see nothing in this denoting a moral re- 
sponsibility — no repentance for past deeds, no thanksgiv- 
ing for favors received. Crime and sin therefore, as viewed 
in a Christian light, can have no existence among them. If 
they felt themselves in any way guilty they would assuredly 
do penance and offer sacrifice to obtain forgiveness ; but we 
do not find this to be the case with any of them. Moreover, 
crimes cannot be offenses to the Great Spirit, as we will see 



PROPITIATORY OFFERINGS. I067 

hereafter that his aid is invoked to commit the greatest of 
crimes and sins. Therefore their idea of a Great Spirit is 
nothing more than a dread of unknown evil befalhng them, 
which it is in their power to avoid by sacrifice, penance, to 
an unknown incomprehensible power, which they know from 
actual phenomena has an existence. Further than this they 
are at a loss. They have no idea of ascribing to it such at- 
tributes as mercy, forgiveness, benevolence, truth, etc. ; 
neither will they have, until such words have a signification 
and appreciation amongst themselves. 

This view of the Great Spirit appears to close observers to 
be the correct and general one of all the prairie tribes, when 
divested of the superstitions and fabulous narration with 
which it is often clothed. War and peace could not be re- 
garded as his acts, as they know that they themselves make 
both ; but success or defeat would, as these are beyond their 
control ; therefore a successful warrior is always called 
Wakan (medicine) meaning thereby that he has by some 
means secured the aid of the Great Spirit. Natural phe- 
nomena unattended with good or evil results would pass by 
unheeded, but destructive tornadoes, death by lightning, by 
sickness such as apoplexy, would be viewed as his special 
acts. Eclipses are warnings, severe thunder is a warning, 
and to these offerings are made with the hope of averting 
some pending calamity. From this dread of unaccountable 
evil arises their repugnance to converse on the subject, as to 
do so would lay open their secret sources of apprehension, 
and might, they think, by some levity, produce the evil they 
seek to avoid, or by a counterpoise of sacrifice on the part 
of some malicious individual, render theirs unavailing. 
Having explained concisely their idea of the Great Spirit, 
we will consider some of their minor objects of faith and 
worship. 

Their belief in amulets or charms is general, and the ma- 
terial of these charms or medicines so various, their influ- 
ence over individuals so diversified, that to enumerate the 
whole would take too much space and indeed is not requi- 



Io68 THE SACRED MEDICINE SACK. 

site. We must, however, endeavor to present the idea 
which, though well known and realized by us, is nevertheless 
difficult to explain. It is that although the Great Spirit is 
all-powerful yet his will is uncertain; he is also invisible 
and only manifests his power in extraordinary acts, smaller 
matters being beneath his notice and under supervision of 
minor spirits. Now it is the want of some tangible medium, 
consecrated by ceremony, guarded with care, and invoked 
with solemnity, that induces them to select some object as 
his medium. Every Indian, upon attaining the age of man- 
hood, becomes a warrior, a hunter, a man of family, and 
at that time is obliged by his different occupations to live in 
constant apprehension of his life and property from various 
enemies and various other causes. He therefore then 
chooses something for his Wakan (medicine). This object 
is chosen in consequence of some dream or of some incident 
or idea presented on an important occasion. In this way a 
skin of a weasel, heads and bodies of different birds stuffed, 
images made of wood and stone, of beads worked upon skin, 
rude drawings of bears, of buffalo bulls, wolves and ser- 
pents, of monsters that have no name, nor ever had an ex- 
istence, in fact, everything animate or inanimate is used, ac- 
cording to the superstition and belief of the individual. 

This object, whatever it is, is enveloped in several folds 
of skin, witli a lock of some deceased relative's hair and a 
small piece of tobacco inclosed and the whole placed in a 
parilcclic sack neatly ornamented and fringed, and this com- 
poses the arcanum of the medicine sack. This sack is never 
opened in the presence of any one, unless the owner or 
some of his family fall dangerously ill, when it is taken out 
and placed at the head of his bed and the aid of the Great 
Spirit invoked through it. Ordinarily this sack is opened 
in secret ; the medicine smoked and invoked and prayers and 
sacrifices made in its presence, and through it, as a tangible 
medium to the Great Spirit, who is unknown and invisible. 
No sacrifices are made directly to it, yet it is invoked sepa- 
rately for intercession or rather as a medium for interces- 



MEDICINE MAY BE CHANGED. I069 

sion, to avert smaller evils that come under the jurisdiction 
of lesser spirits, such as appearance of ghosts, diseases of 
horses or dogs, to find lost or stolen property, for a suc- 
cessful hunt, etc., though not for abundance of game, as the 
production of game would come within the power of the 
Great Spirit, though the matter of killing the same would 
depend upon other powers affected and biased in his favor 
by the ceremonies to the medium. They know well enough 
that the material of the charm or medicine has no intrinsic 
power, neither do they ascribe any to it, the effect lies in 
their faith in the supernatural, as exhibited to the object as 
a visible medium. This is in fact the same operation of 
mind that displays itself in the charms believed in by igno- 
rant whites, and may be considered in that light. Although 
many white ignorant Christians believe, though erroneously 
and sinfully, in the charms of quack doctors and old women, 
fortune-tellers, dreams, ghosts and warnings, yet this does 
not affect their belief in a Supreme Being; neither does it 
that of the Indian. As long as he has good luck in his dif- 
ferent ordinary undertakings, he will say his " medicine is 
good ;" but should a series of petty misfortunes befall him, 
he will throw it away and substitute some other. When 
pictures, medals or crosses are given to them by the mis- 
sionaries, great care is had to give the Indian the true mean- 
ing of the veneration and respect attached to the object. 

From the foregoing you can judge whether they are in 
reality idolaters. That they render a species of worship to 
objects of almost every description is true, yet their devotion 
only refers, through these toys, to the source of all power. 
Even the sun is only worshipped as being the residence of the 
Great Spirit, not for any supposed power inherent in that 
planet. They do not believe in the virtue of the material of 
which their medicine is made; neither do they ascribe to it 
an immaterial spirit ; but the mind by viewing them has a 
resting point, a something to address in form, not for great 
favor or aid, but for daily protection from smaller evils. This 
result is expected by the request being made through an ob- 



1070 ONLY TEMPORAL WANTS FELT. 

ject considered sacred and consecrated by care and ceremony 
to whosesoever business it is in the realms beyond to super- 
intend these matters. Uneducated and unenHghtened as 
tliey are, obhged mentally to grasp at protection from super- 
natural evil in every shape and form, from the great lumi- 
nary the sun, as the most powerful, to the smallest atoms that 
might possibly be of some aid, they, through these portions 
of creation, endeavor by sacrifices, invocations, personal in- 
flictions and fastings, to excite the interest and protection of 
a great invisible power, to whose approach no certain way in 
the Indian's belief presents itself. It would appear that in 
this respect they are not far behind some Christian whites of 
every country in superstition, who also have their chance, 
their luck, their fortunes told, and other ideas fully as re- 
pugnant to the belief of an all-wise and overruling Provi- 
dence as the faith of the Indians presents. The very univer- 
salit}^ of the practice of this sort of idolatry by the Indians 
proves it to be their true belief, and appears, in fact, an 
acknowledgment of the existence of an overruling Provi- 
dence. In accordance with this belief, their prayers and 
sacrifices are all directed to obtain only temporal and not 
spiritual welfare. They pray not for what they do not feel 
to want. 

If no moral sense of right and wrong is found amongst 
them, it must follow that personal advantages are all that is 
left worth praying or fasting for. If they pray and sacri- 
fice to the sun and thunder, it is in their idea to acknowledge 
the power of the Creator in these great portions of his work. 
Great evil, great good is evaded or invoked through these 
great apparent mediums ; smaller evils or benefits are 
avoided or sought through the medium of charms ; yet even 
these are not expected through the power of the material of 
the charm, but the consequences attendant on its sacred 
character as rendered so by constant care, prayers and sacri- 
fices through it to supernatural agencies. 

Having shown what is their idea of the Great Spirit and 
analyzed the nature of their worship, we will next consider 



MURDER A UNIVERSAL REMEDY. lOJ L 

what in their opinion is crime. Can the Great Spirit be 
offended, and if so, what are deemed offenses to it? 

The total absence of all moral restraint as regards futu- 
rity, and the sole object of their worship being self-aggran- 
dizement in this life, compel us to conclude they have not 
the faintest idea of any moral responsibility. Crime there- 
fore, of any kind, as viewed by us, viz. : as an offense 
toward God and to the laws of man, can have no existence 
with them. Take for instance the greatest of all crimes, 
murder. An Indian never commits what to him are equiva- 
lent to our ideas of murder. As soon as he arrives at the 
age of manhood he finds himself thrown upon his own re- 
sources ; he must depend upon himself alone to protect him- 
self, his family, or property, and furnish his household with 
the means of living. As he is but a hunter, his horse and 
gun are his fortune; his life, even the lives of all his family, 
often depend on a few loads of ammunition. Property is 
of value to the Indian; he has no stock of ready cash to 
replace it if lost or stolen. Should any one endeavor to 
impose upon him, take his property or insult his family, to 
whom shall he look for redress? There are no courts of 
justice, no prisons or public executions amongst them, and 
their civil councils take no cognizance of private differences. 
Therefore he is bound by the nature of his isolated position 
to be the sole judge of his own acts and self-administrator 
of justice. He must be firm, obstinate, ready with his 
knife and tomahawk, as the Indian expresses it, or he is 
entirely unfit for the station he occupies. 

The constant habit of carrying arms induces the neces- 
sity of using them, and many petty offenses that would be 
settled amongst whites with the tongue, or fists, are decided 
by them with arms. An Indian never strikes but with the 
intention to kill. Quarrels of all kinds, therefore, being 
liable to exact extreme measures of redress, they are by no 
means so common as one would suppose. When each man 
is aware that his life is at stake, he is cautious how he pro- 
vokes. But if it be necessary, each will endeavor to take 



10/2 TAKING LIFE IN SELF-DEFENSE. 

advantage of the other; each is compelled to act so as to 
save his own life. Indians do not murder each other for 
their property, because by killing one of his own nation it 
would have quite a contrary tendency. He would be obliged 
to fly to another band to avoid being slain by the relations 
of the deceased, and instead of being gainer by the trans- 
action, would be obliged to abandon his own, to become an 
outcast, to impoverish all his relations, who never cease 
paying for the dead to stop further bloodshed, besides plac- 
ing his own life in constant jeopardy, in case of meeting any 
of the relations of the murdered man. Therefore, it is 
entirely out of the question that murder should be deliber- 
ately from their cupidity. 

The only other w^ay in which one man might kill another 
Vv^ould be in quarrel, and this often happens; but no differ- 
ence what the object of the quarrel, be it a horse, an insult, 
etc., or who is right or who is wrong; when the difference 
arises to the point of meriting a blow it becomes absolutely 
self-defense on the part of both, each to preserve his own 
life by taking that of his adversary. There is no middle 
course, and several who have killed their people under these 
circumstances have regretted, deeply, the necessity, but con- 
tended they could not do otherwise. Not to kill when the 
death of one becomes necessary, from any cause, would be 
accounted the height of foolishness and cowardice, and ruin 
an Indian forever with his own people or even with his own 
family, besides surrendering up his life to the other without 
a struggle. Therefore, in all cases, murder in their idea is 
an act of self-defense attendant on their peculiar civil or- 
ganization. It is an affront to the individual, entailing upon 
it the risk of a like punishment, by the relations of the de- 
ceased, outlawry and poverty, but cannot be considered by 
them as an offense to the Great Spirit. No man amongst 
them would kill another for the mere love of killing, for to 
do so would, as we have shown, subject him to outlawry, 
assassination and ruin, without any prospect of gain; which 
would be entirely incompatible with Indian character. The 



ROBBERY AND THEFT NOT USUAL. IO73 

murder of their enemies is considered honorable warfare, 
the same as among whites; the difference in the manner of 
its execution is part of their mihtary training. Taking 
this view of the matter, we can easily perceive how an 
Indian could, consistently with the former idea of the Great 
Spirit, pray to it to aid him against his enemies of every 
kind, whether they be of h'is own people or of a different 
nation. 

Robbery and theft are not carried on to any extent 
amongst them, as the former would be punished the same 
as murder and the latter would subject him to the ridicule 
of all, Indians will occasionally steal small articles from 
one another, but when questioned they will say they were 
in want of them and could not get them any other way. 
When they rob whites they think they are doing right. 
With them all whites are interlopers, getting rich from the 
labors of the Indians, and to take a portion of their goods 
is nothing more than their due long since in arrears. 
Therefore, theft is only resorted to as another means of 
supplying want and the disgrace is thought full punishment. 
Robbery, when it does occur, is the consequence of some 
quarrel and merges into the extreme penalty above related. 
From this we can conceive that neither robbery nor theft 
can be considered as offenses to the Great Spirit, as it is 
only another way of the Indian securing means to make a 
living for himself and family. It is, however, an offense to 
the individual and punished accordingly. Should an Indian 
steal a gun or a horse, two of the most valuable articles 
amongst them, he would give for a reason that he required 
them for the support of his family. Besides, guns, horses, 
and even the meat brought into camp are more or less pub- 
lic property ; at least, all receive the benefit of the hunter's 
labor. The horses and guns do not leave the nation ; they 
merely change owners and the produce of each is divided 
the same as before the theft was committed. In this, there- 
fore, as well as the other, the aid of the Great Spirit would 
be invoked. 
68 



1074 NO PROFANITY NOR SABBATH. 

Transgression against the sixth commandment is looked 
upon by the Indians as an offense to the individual only — • 
husband or father — not to the Great Spirit, and as such is 
punished by exacting payment — killing or taking the 
horses of the offender. 

With regard to profane swearing, there is no word in the 
language of the Indians equivalent to even the smallest 
oath in such general use among civilized Christians. The 
name of the Great Spirit is seldom mentioned above a whis- 
per and that only in rare and solemn occasions and never 
in ordinary conversation. In bearing witness an Indian's 
solemn assurance, or oath, in their form, could be depended 
upon. 

They know not the Sabbath day. Their solemn days are 
frequent and on these occasions there is a great intensity 
of devotion in their ceremonies and personal inflictions. 
From all this it is evident they have no moral accountability. 
Not feeling themselves guilty of sin, they do no penance 
for bad deeds. But can the Great Spirit be offended? If 
so, how? He can be and is offended, they say, by not at- 
tending to the proper ceremonies, fasts, penances and 
sacrifices, sufficient to insure his aid in their greatest under- 
takings. Therefore the neglect of worship is the only 
offense. When their ceremonies are performed too seldom, 
or even the nature of the article sacrificed is not of suffi- 
cient value, or when they have promised a sacrifice and not 
fulfilled the same, his anger is felt in distress of various 
kinds, such as sickness, death, losses, defeat, famine or in 
some of the many calamities which it is their intention to 
avoid by performing their religious rites. Neglect in this 
point is the only offense, but a great one in their estimation. 
Hence their obstinate adherence to their ceremonies, upon 
the fulfillment of which the entire prosperity of the life of 
the Indian and his family depends. No moral obligation 
is felt to worship him, neither from the fact of their crea- 
tion, existence, or with regard to a future state. 



FUTURE OF THE TWO SOULS. lO/S 

This leads us to consider what they beheve with regard 
to futurity. That the soul lives after death is the general 
assent, and that it is a final state; but by pursuing the in- 
quiry we do not arrive at any certain idea of the soul's 
occupation there. They always say they don't know. This 
much, however, some acknowledge, that when they die, their 
spirit is taken to the south, to a warm country; but this 
place does not appear to be either in the earth or in the 
heavens. Here is a state of happiness free from all distress, 
want, war or accidents. Some are more comfortably situ- 
ated than others, particularly great warriors and those who 
have paid especial attention to their religious ceremonies 
and have offered large sacrifices. No punishment for 
offense is apprehended, but all is peace, plenty and harmony. 
If more minutely questioned, they will describe a counter- 
part of the Mohammedan paradise, or a shadowy image of 
this life, abstracting the evil. Many of the Indian tribes 
speak dismally of the future of the wicked ; their abode is a 
place of desolation, destitute of fruits and roots, of ani- 
mals of all kinds, where perpetual winter reigns — marshy 
and miry, filled with dangerous reptiles of every descrip- 
tion — whilst in the portion of the good reign eternal sum- 
mer and sunshine, an abundance of the choicest animals 
of the chase, of fruits and of roots — a place of peace and 
of never-ending happiness. 

There is no resurrection of the body in the creed of the 
Indians, though they are presumed to have bodies given 
them in the future state, presenting the same features as in 
this life, partaking of its nature, but not subject to the 
same vicissitudes of accidents, sickness, etc. Amongst 
some there appears to be the idea of two souls, one of the 
body, which hovers forever near the burial place, and the 
other of the mind, admitted to this southern paradise. As 
I have said above, animals of all kinds are found there. It 
does not appear they are souls of the same who died on this 
earth, neither is their state of happiness of eternal duration. 
Reasoning powers and immortality are not ascribed to the 



1076 NO IDEA OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 

brute creation. Anything referring to a future state is 
rarely made the subject of their conversation. There is a 
great difference of opinion. Some think death to be a final 
state of both soul and body, though the ghost of the body 
remains near its cemetery. In reality, they have but little 
sincere belief in the existence of a future state, or at least 
not much importance is attached to the idea during life. At 
their death, their greatest anxiety appears to be for their 
families left on earth and not much for what is to become 
of their souls. They admit its uncertainty and appear not 
to fear anything on the score of future punishment. Upon 
the whole, there is nothing in this belief that affects much 
their general conduct through life, and as little on their 
deathbed; and from this fact we may reasonably conclude 
that the foregoing is the correct view of their religion, as 
they do not feel guilty of offenses toward the Great Spirit, 
but claim reward for their devotedness in their manner of 
worship. They have no idea of an atonement or a redeemer 
who has come on earth to rescue them and to instruct them 
in the way of salvation. They are seated according to 
scripture : " In the shadow of death." They must first 
be taught a correct idea of the Great Spirit, of crime, of 
right and wrong; their wild passions must be subdued be- 
fore the Christian principles can be implanted into their 
hearts. 

" Faith is the gift of God." The conversion of these 
poor heathens is the work of the Lord, for it implies the 
entire regeneration of the adult Indian, which would be 
next to a miracle of grace. The task is truly a great one, 
but with assistance from above it may be overcome. In all 
my experience among these Indian tribes I have found 
them always respectful, assiduous and attentive to instruc- 
tion on the holy word of God. On all occasions they ex- 
press an earnest willingness or anxiety to have their chil- 
dren instructed in the consoling truths of religion, and in 
no instance did I ever meet with a spirit of opposition on 
their part. The work of their conversion requires, no doubt, 



MUCH PATIENCE REQUIRED. IO77 

an abundance of Christian patience, of perseverance and 
prayers. I am fully convinced that we may reckon on your 
holy sacrifices and prayers in furthering and promoting this 
noble work of the Lord. " Go and teach all nations, bap- 
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost." Amen. 

Your humble brother in Christ, etc. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

INDIAN LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS. 

Potazvatomi Legends. 

Potawatomi theology — A good spirit and a bad — The creation 
legend — Warfare of Nanaboojoo and the manitous — The bridge of 
the dead — The prophet Keokuk and his new religion — The Potawa- 
tomies and their territory — Indians sober and drunk — Story of the 
Piasa bird — Burial customs — The giving of feasts — Story of a 
father's vengeance. 

St. Louis University, January lo, 1847. 
Very Reverend and Dear Father Provincial:^ 

9^ GREEABLY to my promise, I send you the account 
^^ given by the Potawatomies, residing at Council Bluffs, 
respecting their own origin, and the causes which gave rise 
to their " great medicine " and juggling, considered by them 
as of the highest antiquity. Such superstitions, indeed, are 
found to exist among all the tribes of the American conti- 
nent, differing only in the form and the accompanying cere- 
monies. The Nanaboojoo, or Nanabush, of the Potawato- 
mies, the Wieska, of the Ojibwas, the Wizakeshak,^ of the 
Crees, the Sauteux and the Blackfeet, the Etalapasse of the 
Chinooks on the coast of the Pacific, can, among these dif- 
ferent tribes, be traced up to the same personage. 

I send it verbatim, as it was communicated to me by 
Potogojecs, one of the most intelligent chiefs of the Pota- 
watomi nation. Though fabulous, it is not entirely devoid 

1 Legend of the Potawatomi Indians as related in a letter to the 
Father Provincial, dated St. Louis, January 10, 1847. Published as 
Letters XXV, Oregon Missions, XXVII, Missions de I'Orcgon. The 
English text is followed here. 

2 Page 525. 

[1078] 



THE GOOD SPIRIT AND THE BAD. 1079 

of interest; it should excite us to offer up our prayers the 
more fervently to the Great Father of Light for these poor 
benighted children of the forest, and beg of him to send 
good and worthy laborers into this vast vineyard. Having 
inquired of this chief what he thought of the Great Spirit, 
of the Creator, and of the origin of his religion, or great 
medicine, he replied as follows: " Macketakonia (Black- 
robe), I will give you a faithful account of what my tribe 
believes in these matters. We have not, like you, books to 
transmit our traditions to our children ; it is the duty of the 
old men of the nation to instruct the young people in what- 
ever relates to their belief and their happiness. 

" Many among us believe that there are two Great Spirits 
who govern the universe, but who are constantly at war 
with each other. One is called the Kchemnito, that is, the 
Great Spirit, the other Mchemnito, or the Wicked Spirit. 
The first is goodness itself, and his beneficent influence is 
felt everywhere; but the second is wickedness personified, 
and does nothing but evil. Some believe that they are 
equally powerful, and through fear of the Wicked Spirit, 
offer to him their homage and adoration. Others again are 
doubtful w^hich of them should be considered the more pow- 
erful, and accordingly endeavor to propitiate both, by of- 
fering to each an appropriate worship. The greater part, 
however, believe as I do, that Kchemnito is the first princi- 
ple, the first great cause, and consequently ought to be 
all-powerful, and to whom alone is due all worship and 
adoration; and that Mchemnito ought to be despised and 
rejected! 

" Kchemnito at first created a world, which he filled with 
a race of beings having nothing but the appearance of men 
— perverse, ungrateful, wicked dogs — that never raised 
their eyes to heaven to implore the assistance of the Great 
Spirit. Such ingratitude aroused him to anger, and he 
plunged the world in a great lake, where they were all 
drowned. His anger thus appeased, he withdrew it from 
the waters, and created anew a beautiful young man, who, 



I080 ORIGIN OF THE INDIANS. 

however, appeared very sad, and being dissatisfied with 
his soHtary condition, grew weary of Hfe. Kchemnito took 
pity on him, and gave him, during sleep, a sister, as a com- 
panion to cheer his lonehness. When he awoke and saw 
his sister he rejoiced exceedingly — his melancholy in- 
stantly disappeared. They spent their time in agreeable 
conversation and amusement, living for many 3^ears together 
in a state of innocence and perfect harmony, without the 
slightest incident to mar the happiness of their peaceful 
solitude. 

" The young man had a dream, for the first time, which 
he communicated to his sister : ' Five young men,' said he, 
' will come this night, and rap at the door of the lodge — 
the Great Spirit forbids you to laugh, to look at them, or 
give an answer to any of the first four, but laugh, look and 
speak, when the fifth presents himself.' She acted according 
to his advice. When she heard the voice of the fifth, she 
opened the door to him, laughing at the same time very 
heartily; he entered immediately, and became her husband. 
The first of the five strangers, called Sama (tobacco), hav- 
ing received no answer, died of grief; the three others, 
Wapekone (pumpkin), Eshketamok (water-melon), and 
Kojees (the bean), shared the fate of their companion. 
Taaman (maize), the bridegroom, buried his four com- 
panions, and from their graves there sprang up shortly after 
pumpkins, water-melons, beans and tobacco plants in suffi- 
cient abundance to supply their wants during the whole 
year, and enable them to smoke to the manitous and in the 
council. From this union are descended the American In- 
dian nations. 

"A great manitou came on earth, and chose a wife from 
among the children of men. He had four sons at a birth ; 
the first born was called Nanaboojoo, the friend of the 
human race, the mediator between man and the Great 
Spirit; the second was named Chipiapoos, the man of the 
dead, who presides over the country of the souls ; the third, 
Wabosso, as soon as he saw the light, fled toward the north. 



NANABOOJOO AND CHIPIAPOOS. IO81 

where he was changed into a white rabbit, and under that 
name is considered there as a great manitou ; the fourth was 
Chakekenapok, the man of flint, or fire-stone. In coming 
into the world he caused the death of his mother. 

" Nanaboojoo, having arrived at the age of manhood, re- 
solved to avenge the death of his mother (for among us 
revenge is considered honorable) ; he pursued Chakekenapok 
all over the globe. Whenever he could come within reach 
of his brother, he fractured some member of his body, and 
after several rencontres, finally destroyed him by tearing 
out his entrails. All fragments broken from the body of this 
man of stone then grew up into large rocks; his entrails 
were changed into vines of every species, and took deep 
root in all the fores.ts; the flintstones scattered around the 
earth indicate where the different combats took place. Be- 
fore fire was introduced among us, Nanaboojoo taught our 
ancestors how to form hatchets, lances and the points of 
arrows, in order to assist us in killing our enemies in war 
and animals for our food. Nanaboojoo and his brother, 
Chipiapoos, lived together retired from the rest of man- 
kind, and were distinguished from all other beings by their 
superior qualities of body and mind. The manitous that 
dwell in the air, as well as those who inhabit the earth and 
the waters, envied the power of these brothers, and con- 
spired to destroy them. Nanaboojoo discovered and eluded 
their snares, and warned Chipiapoos not to separate him- 
self from him a single moment. Notwithstanding this ad- 
monition, Chipiapoos ventured alone one day upon Lake 
Michigan; the manitous broke the ice, and he sank to the 
bottom, where they hid the body. Nanaboojoo became in- 
consolable when he missed his brother from his lodge; he 
sought him everywhere in vain, he waged war against all 
the manitous, and precipitated an infinite number of them 
into the deepest abyss. He then wept, disfigured his person, 
and covered his head, as a sign of his grief, during six years, 
pronouncing from time to time, in sad and mournful tones, 
the name of the unhappy Chipiapoos. 



I082 THE MANITOUS MAKE AMENDS. 

" While this truce continued, the manitous consulted upon 
the means best calculated to appease the anger of Nanaboo- 
joo, without, however, coming to any conclusion ; when four 
of the oldest and wisest, who had had no hand in the death 
of Chipiapoos, offered to accomplish the difficult task. They 
built a lodge close to that of Nanaboojoo, prepared an ex- 
cellent repast, and filled a calumet with the most exquisite 
tobacco. They journeyed in silence toward their redoubted 
enemy, each carrying under his arm a bag, formed of the 
entire skin of some animal, an otter, a lynx, or a beaver, well 
provided with the most precious medicines (to which, in 
their superstitious practices, they attach a supernatural 
power). With many kind expressions, they begged that 
he would condescend to accompany them. He arose imme- 
diately, uncovered his head, washed himself and followed 
them. When arrived at their lodge, they offered him a cup 
containing a dose of their medicine, preparatory to his ini- 
tiation. Nanaboojoo swallowed the contents at a single 
draught, and found himself completely restored. They then 
commenced their dances and their songs ; they also applied 
their medicine bags, which, after gently blowing them at 
him, they would then cast on the ground ; at each fall of the 
medicine bag, Nanaboojoo perceived that his melancholy, 
sadness, hatred and anger disappeared, and affections of 
an opposite nature took possession of his soul. They all 
joined in the dance and song — they ate and smoked to- 
gether. Nanaboojoo thanked them for having initiated him 
in the mysteries of their grand medicine. 

" The manitous brought back the lost Chipiapoos, but it 
was forbidden him to enter the lodge ; he received, through 
a chink, a burning coal, and was ordered to go and preside 
over the region of souls, and there, for the happiness of 
his uncles and aunts, that is, for all men and women, who 
should repair thither, kindle with this coal a fire which 
should never be extinguished. 

" Nanaboojoo then redescended upon earth, and, by order 
of the Great Spirit, initiated all his family in the mysteries 



THE EARTH AND THE FOUR WINDS. I083 

of the grand medicine. He procured for each of them a bag 
well furnished with medicines, giving them strict orders to 
perpetuate these ceremonies among their descendants, add- 
ing at the same time that these practices, religiously ob- 
served, would cure their maladies, produce them abundance 
in the chase and give them complete victory over their 
enemies. (All their religion consists in these superstitious 
practices, dances and songs ; they have the most implicit 
faith in these strange reveries.) 

" Nanaboojoo is our principal intercessor with the Great 
Spirit ; he it was that obtained for us the creation of animals 
for our food and raiment. He has caused to grow those 
roots and herbs which are endowed with the virtue of curing 
our maladies, and of enabling us, in time of famine, to kill 
the Vv^ild animals. He has left the care of them to Mesak- 
kummikokwi, the earth, the great-grandmother of the hu- 
man race, and in order that we should never invoke her in 
vain, it has been strictly enjoined on the old woman never 
to quit the dwelling. Hence, when an Indian makes the 
collection of roots and herbs which are to serve him as 
medicines, he deposits at the same time on the earth a small 
offering to Mesakkummikokwi. During his different ex- 
cursions over the surface of the earth, Nanaboojoo killed all 
such animals as were hurtful to us, as the mastodon, the 
mammoth, etc. He has placed four beneficial spirits at the 
four cardinal points of the earth, for the purpose of con- 
tributing to the happiness of the human race. That of the 
north procures for us ice and snow, in order to aid us in 
discovering and following the wild animals. That of the 
south gives us that which occasions the growth of our pump- 
kins, melons, maize and tobacco. The spirit placed at the 
west gives us rain, and that of the east gives us light, and 
commands the sun to make his daily walks around the globe. 
The thunder we hear is the voice of spirits, having the form 
of large birds, which Nanaboojoo has placed in the clouds. 
When they cry very loud we burn some tobacco in our 
cabins, to make them a smoke-offering and appease them. 



1084 BIBLICAL TRADITIONS RECOGNIZABLE. 

" NanaboGJOG yet lives, resting himself after his labors, 
upon an immense flake of ice, in the great lake (the North 
Sea). We fear that the whites will one day discover his 
retreat and drive him off, then the end of the world is at 
hand, for as soon as he puts foot on the earth, the whole 
universe will take fire, and every living creature will perish 
in the flames ! " 

In their festivities and religious assemblies, all their songs 
turn upon some one or other of these fables. When the 
chief had finished this history, I asked him whether he had 
any faith in what he had just related. He answered in 
astonishment : "Assuredly I have, for I have had the happi- 
ness to see and entertain three old men of my nation, who 
penetrated far into the north, and were admitted into the 
presence of Nanaboojoo, with whom they conversed a long 
time. They confirmed all that I have recounted to you ! '' 

Our savages believe that the souls of the dead, in their 
journey to the great prairie of their ancestors, pass a rapid 
current, over which the only bridge is a single tree, kept 
constantly in violent agitation; managed, however, in such 
a way that the souls of perfect men pass it in safety, whilst 
those of the wicked slip off the tree into the water and are 
lost forever. 

Such is the narration given to me by the Potawatomi 
chief, comprising all the articles of the creed held by this 
tribe ; we can hardly fail to recognize in it, much obscured 
by the accumulation of ages, the tradition of the universal 
deluge, of the creation of the universe, of Adam and Eve; 
even some traces of the incarnation are found in the birth 
of Nanaboojoo; he was descended of parents, one of whom 
only, his mother, was of the human race; he is, moreover, 
the interecessor between God and man. 

If the early Jesuits or other Christian travelers had never 
been among these people, or if the Indians had never visited 
a Christian community, one might infer that they are in 
some sort direct descendants of Noah, and that they have 
preserved the tradition of the universal deluge, although 



Keokuk's new religion. 1085 

obscured, altered and become fabulous in the long succession 
of ages. 

^Keokuk, surnamed the Prophet, chief of the Kickapoos, 
a tribe of the nation of Potawatomies, is the inventor of a 
new doctrine. He has adherents to the number of about 
400, young men for the most part. He claims to have re- 
ceived his religion by supernatural intervention, from the 
mouth of the Great Spirit himself. He calls himself the en- 
voy of God, Christ under a new form, and invites all the na- 
tions of the earth to come and gather under his banner. He 
adopts sundry moral precepts, among others abstinence from 
all liquors and the keeping of Sunday. He appears pro- 
foundly ignorant of Christian doctrines,^ and only admits 
certain points of it which agree with his ideas. His fellow 
religionists assemble for prayer four times a week between 
one and three in the afternoon. This prayer consists of 
a few detached sentences, often repeated in a monotonous 
musical tone. All perform this in concert, and to keep har- 
mony in the words each holds a small strip of wood in his 
hand, an inch and a half wide by eight to ten long, upon 
which some arbitrary characters are traced, which they 
follow with a finger until the last mark gives warning of 
the end of prayer. 

They reckon five of these characters or marks. The first 
represents the heart, the second the heart and the flesh, 
the third life, the fourth their names, the fifth their fam- 
ilies. During the service they run over these marks sev- 
eral times. First the person imagines himself as exist- 
ing upon earth, then he draws near the door of the house 
of God, etc. Putting their finger upon the lowest mark, 
they say, " O our Father, make our hearts like thy heart, 
as good as thine, as strong as thine. — As good as thy 
house, as good as the door of thy house, as hard and as 
good as the earth around thy house, as strong as thy walk- 

3 The remainder of the Potawatomi legend is translated from Mis- 
sions de I'Oregon, pp. 288-303. 
■* See Catlin, vol. II, pp. 98-100. 



I086 WHIPPING AN ESSENTIAL POINT. 

ing staff. O our Father, make our hearts and our flesh 
hke thy heart and thy flesh. — As powerful as thy heart 
and thy flesh, — Like thy house and thy door and thy 
staff, etc. O our Father, place our names beside thine — 
think of us, as thou thinkest of thy house, of thy door, of 
the earth around thy house, etc. O our Father, make our 
families as holy as thine, as holy as thy house," etc. They 
repeat this prayer to the point of satiety. There is no ques- 
tion of sin, nor confession, nor repentance, nor penance. 
In these respects they appear more densely ignorant than 
the rudest savages ; for they, in their sacrificial offerings, 
recognize their transgressions against the Holy Spirit and 
the necessity of repentance and penitence. It is savage 
nature, and every departure from it can only cast them into 
a deeper abyss. For in religious matters, savages, in their 
primitive condition, are children of nature ; to abandon that 
state, without being under the influence of the great truths' 
of the Christian religion, is necessarily to follow a down- 
ward path. 

To be beaten with a rod is one of the articles of their 
moral code, and they submit thereto when they have com- 
mitted some fault. But since in their prayers there is no 
confession of sin against God, it appears that they only 
submit to this suffering for the sake of the wholesome effect 
produced upon the present state of society among them. 

The offender, who is often the only one cognizant of his 
crime, goes to one of the four or five persons authorized to 
make use of the rod, and declares himself guilty of a trans- 
gression, for which he desires to receive a certain number 
of blows upon his bare back. After the fiagellation, which 
often draws blood, the penitent shakes hands with the 
operator and the others who are present, and thanks him 
for the favor he has just done him, declaring that he is 
relieved of a heavy burden. 

Not long ago, the prophet himself had committed so 
notorious an offense that he could not claim exemption^ 
from the rigorous rule of flagellation on the pretext of his 



THE POTAWATOMI COUNTRY. loS/ 

lofty dignity. But to lessen the mortification of so public 
a humiliation, he convoked a council of the elders, in which 
it was resolved that by reason of a sort of general apostasy 
of the community, a flagellation of all hands was necessary. 
A day was set, and every man, woman and child belonging 
to the sect received the allotted portion of blows upon their 
backs. 

The Potawatomies are divided into two tribes ; those of 
the forests, among whom are a great number of Catholics, 
and those of the prairies, who have never had priests among 
them. These last form a mixed nation, composed of Pota- 
watomies, Winnebagoes, Foxes, Chippewas, Sauks,Ottawas, 
Menominees and Kickapoos ; there are more than 3,000 of 
them. They separated from their brothers of the forests at 
the beginning of the war for the independence of the United 
States ; one part took the side of the English, the other that 
of the Republic. The Potawatomies sold their lands in the 
States of Illinois and Indiana in 1836, receiving from the 
Government 5,000,000 acres in exchange upon the Mis- 
souri, at Council Bluffs, toward the forty-first and forty- 
second degrees of north latitude. The '^limate of the 
country is extremely variable, and thunder storms are very 
frequent in the months of June and July. The winter is 
not so long as in Belgium, but the cold is much more in- 
tense ; on the other hand the heat is much greater in sum- 
mer. The country in general is composed of fair plains 
and forests interspersed, and watered throughout by the 
Missouri. Three other rivers, the Nishnabotna, the Mos- 
quito and the Boyer, traverse it. The Potawatomies are 
very gentle and tractable by nature ; they do not lack spirit 
and never appear timid ; no rank or dignity is known 
among them; their chief has no other revenue than what 
his lance, arrows and carbine bring him ; his throne is his 
steed. He promulgates the law, and when he can he exe- 
cutes it. He must be more courageous than his subjects, 
and never receives any more than each of them in the 



I088 ADMIRABLE WHEN SOBER. 

divisions that they have to make. The first in fight, he is 
always the last to leave the field. 

Most of these savages are capable of sustaining a very 
interesting conversation, upon matters not out of their 
range; they love to jest and take a joke very well; they 
never dispute nor become heated in conversation ; they never 
interrupt any one whomsoever; they always reflect a few 
moments before answering in an important matter, or else 
defer their replies to the next day. They have no expres- 
sion to blaspheme the name of the Lord; their most injuri- 
ous term is " dog." They live scattered in cabins. The 
profound peace in which they live comes in large part from 
their letting every man do what seems to him good. Often 
years will pass without the least quarrel ; but when intoxi- 
cated with liquor, which is brought them in large quanti- 
ties, all their good qualities vanish ; they no longer resem- 
ble men ; everybody takes flight around them ; their yells 
and howls are frightful ; they hurl themselves upon each 
other, bite noses and ears and rend one another in a hor- 
rible manner. Since we came among them, four Otoes and 
three Potawatomies have been killed in drunken rows. 



Here is a very singular tradition, which I have from 
the head chief of the nation ; it is current among all the 
tribes of the Illini, or of the States of Illinois, Indiana 
and Ohio. In ascending the Mississippi, above St. Louis, 
between Alton and the mouth of the Illinois River, the trav- 
eler observes, between two high hills, a narrow passage 
where a small stream enters the river. This stream is called 
the Piasa, which means in Indian language " The bird that 
devours men." At this place appears, on a smooth per- 
pendicular rock, the figure of an enormous bird with out- 
spread wings chiseled in the rock higher than a man can 
reach. The bird that this figure represents, and whose 
name is borne by the little stream, has been called the Piasa 



LEGEND OF THE PIASA BIRD. I089 

by the Indians. They say that " several thousand moons 
before the arrival of the whites, when the great mammoth 
or mastodon, which Nanaboojoo or Na-na-bush destroyed 
and whose bones are still found, was feeding on the grass 
of their immense green prairies, there was a bird of such 
monstrous bigness that he would carry off an elk in his 
claws without trouble. This bird, having tasted human 
flesh one day, would thereafter touch no other meat; his 
cunning was not less than his might; he would stoop sud- 
denly upon an Indian, carry him away to one of the cav- 
erns of the rock and devour him. Hundreds of warriors 
had endeavored to destroy him, but without success. For 
several years entire villages were almost devastated, and 
terror spread among all the tribes of the Illini. 

"At last Outaga, a war chief whose fame extended beyond 
the great lakes, went apart from his tribe, fasted for the 
space of a moon in solitude and prayed the Great Spirit, 
the Master of Life, to deliver his children from the claws 
of the Piasa. The last night of his fast, the Great Spirit 
appeared to him in a dream and told him to choose twenty 
warriors, each armed with a bow and a poisoned arrow, 
and to conceal them in a designated spot. A single war- 
rior should show himself openly to serve as a victim to the 
Piasa ; all the others should let fly their arrows at the bird, 
as he descended upon his prey. On waking, the chief 
thanked the Great Spirit and returned to tell his dream to 
the tribe. The warriors were chosen without delay, armed 
and set in ambush. Outaga offered himself as the victim? 
he was ready to die for his nation. Climbing upon an 
eminence, he saw the Piasa perched on the rock; he stood 
erect, planted his feet firmly on the ground, and laid his 
right hand on his heart, which did not flutter, and struck 
up with a steady voice the death-song of a warrior. At 
once the Piasa soared aloft and darted like lightning upon 
the chief. All the bows were stretched and every arrow 
buried itself to the feather in his body. The Piasa uttered 
a wild and frightful cry and fell dying at Outaga's feet. 
69 



1090 PAYING FOR THE DEAD. 

Neither the arrows nor the bird's claws had touched the 
warrior. The Master of Life, to reward his generous 
devotion, had suspended an invisible buckler above his head. 
It is in memory of this event that the image of the Piasa was 
chiseled into the rock."^ 

Such is the Indian tradition ; I give it as it came to me. 
In any event, it is certain that the figure of an enormous 
bird is to be seen at an inaccessible height upon the rock, 
where it appears to be carved. No Indian ever passes by 
the place in his canoe without firing his gun at it. The 
marks left by the bullets on the rock are almost innumer- 
able. The bones of thousands of men are piled in the cav- 
erns around the Piasa; how, by whom and why it is not 
easy to guess.® 

He who has committed a murder is punished with death 
by the victim's relations, unless he " redeems his own 
body " and covers the blood by a payment of horses, robes, 
etc. If he offers himself to them to expiate his crime and 
no one has the sad courage to take his life, as often happens, 
then he is " washed of the murder " and need pay nothing. 
One of our neighbors, who had killed his wife, came off 
free upon paying a horse to each one of her brothers. The 
murderer paints his face black and his lips red for a time, 
to show that he thirsts for blood and means to sate himself. 

When a husband or wife dies, the survivor pays to the 
kinsmen of the deceased the " debt of the body," in money 
or horses, and according to his or her means ; one who 
should neglect to pay the debt would be in danger of seeing 
all his possessions destroyed. A wife must wear mourning 

^ Parkman, Disc. Great West. Chap. V. 

^ This painting, usually identified with the one described by Marquette 
ill 1673. was visible on a rock at the upper end of the city of Alton, 
Illinois, until the demolition of the rock, for building-stone, by St. Louis 
parties in 1866 and 1867. Marquette saw a pair of monsters, each as 
large as a calf. From information collected by Father Hill, of St. 
Louis, it appears that in recent times there was only one figure 
visible, though some claimed to have seen a small figure in front of the 
large one. It was exposed to southwestern storms and defaced by bul- 



SOME MORTUARY CUSTOMS. lOQI 

for a year after her husband's death ; that is she may neither 
comb her hair nor wash herself. When, however, she is 
eaten up by vermin, a kinswoman of the departed may take 
pity on her and render her that service. 

The Potawatomi keeps the soul of his dead relation 
supplied with provisions for a whole year ; he throws part 
of every meal into the fire, thinking that the soul receives 
comfort and strength thereby. The Otoes, their near 
neighbors, generally strangle one or two of their best horses 
on their comrade's grave, that he may ride them in his great 
journey to the other world; they hang up the tails of these 
horses on long poles. Their heaven matches their ideas; 
it is an immense prairie, beyond the sunset, where spring 
is everlasting, and which is full of countless varieties of 
grass, buffalo, deer, antelope, bear and all sorts of game. 

When a chief or brave of the nation is buried, all the 
warriors who have taken some trophy from the enemy, 
gather to pay him the last respects. They accompany the 
bier to the burial place, where one of the principal orators 
pronounces the funeral oration. He recalls all the dead 
man's fine qualities, all the noteworthy actions of his life, 
the enemies who have fallen under his hatchet, the scalps 
he has taken and the ferocious beasts he has killed. Then 
they put him in the grave, his face toward the setting sun ; 
give him his carbine, lance, bow and arrows ; fill his powder 
horn and bullet pouch ; place beside him his pipe and well- 
filled tobacco bag, with some other provisions such as sugar, 
dried meat, corn, etc. ; supplies that might be needful to him 
on his journey to the land of souls. All wish him a for- 
tunate trip, take his hand for the last time, and the grave is 
closed. Then they plant before the mound the " post of the 

lets, and was of a pale red color ; Marquette's monsters were red, black 
and green. The painting was eighty feet above high water and sixty- 
above the base of the cliff, and fifteen or twenty below its top. Indians 
of the eighteenth century were remembered to have feared it as power- 
ful medicine, without knowing anything of its origin, and to have in- 
variably discharged all their guns at it when they passed. 



1092 SERENADING AND SALE. 

braves;" at its top is painted in red the animal or totem, 
guardian spirit of the dead man, and all present make one 
or two marks besides; these are red crosses, whereby they 
mean to represent so many souls of their vanquished ene- 
mies, whom they thus devote to the service of their com- 
rade in the other world, as slaves. I have seen posts with 
80 to 100 of these crosses upon them. 

The parents of one child had contrived a little opening 
in its grave-mound, to allow passage for the soul. The 
desolate mother watched the grave for two days, to find 
whether her little one had met with kindness in the other 
world, or was unhappy there. She claimed to know by 
these signs ; if she saw a pretty bird or some beautiful in- 
sect, it was a favorable omen; but if she met a disgusting 
reptile or a bird of prey, then all was lost for her child. 
Fortunately the weather was serene, and butterflies and 
other lovely insects of every kind and color were flitting 
all about. The poor mother therefore returned comforted 
to her home. — She came to see me afterward, for instruc- 
tion in our holy religion and to have her two little girls 
baptized. 

As soon as an Indian desires to marry, he manifests his 
inclination by playing upon a certain kind of flute called 
popokzven; he roams through the village, suitably painted 
and adorned, and gives frequent serenades before the abode 
of her whom he has chosen for companion. As soon as the 
girl consents to marry him, the parents or brothers fix the 
price; he has to give each of them a horse, or some other 
valuable object, and she is turned over to him. Mostly, 
however, they sell the girl to whomsoever they see fit with- 
out consulting her inclinations ; and the women are so used 
to this that they seldom murmur or complain. 

An Indian's wife is truly a slave. They say that the 
Great Spirit (Kchemnito) in a council that he held with 
their forefathers, decided " that the men should protect the 
women and hunt the animals : that all the rest should be the 
duty of the women;" and they hold scrupulously by this 



NAMING OF CHILDREN. lOQJ 

decision. The wife alone therefore is charged with all the 
work of the household ; she washes, mends, cooks, builds the 
cabins, tills and sows the fields, cuts the wood, etc. ; so too 
she appears old at thirty or thirty-five years. As for the 
men, except for the hunts that they make from time to time, 
they lead an entirely idle life; they talk, smoke, play cards 
or hide the ball under the slipper, and that is all. 

When a child is to be named, the parents make a great 
feast ; they send to each of the guests, by way of invitation, 
a little scrap of tobacco leaf or a small stick; this is their 
manner of inviting. After the meal, the eldest of the fam- 
ily proclaims the name, which generally has reference either 
to some distinguishing mark, or to some dream of the 
child's, or to some good or evil characteristic by which he 
may have made himself known. With boys, this ceremony 
takes place v.^hen they attain their seventeenth year. They 
have to undergo beforehand a very strict fast of seven or 
eight days, during which the parents recommend to their 
child to pay great attention to dreams that the Great Spirit 
may send him, which are to reveal his future destiny; he 
will know if he is to be a great chief or a good hunter by 
the number of animals that fall beneath his hatchet or of 
scalps won from the enemy in his dreams. The animal 
that appears to him is to become his manitou or totem, and 
all his life long he must bear some token of it about him; 
claw, tooth, tail or feather, it matters not what. 

The caste of false ministers of religion among the In- 
dians is known under the name of Big Medicine ; those who 
belong to it form a band by themselves. Each of them is 
provided with a bag, which contains sundry roots and me- 
dicinal plants, to which they pay a sort of worship. They 
guard the utmost secrecy as to their beliefs, and are very 
close about admitting new members. They dance and sing 
a great deal in their reunions, and give one another hard 
knocks, squeezing their medicine bags under their arms. 
One very noteworthy thing which I have from several eye- 
witnesses, is that they confess themselves conquered and 



I094 HERBS WOMAN IN THE MOON FEASTS. 

cease their superstitious performances, whenever a baptized 
person, wearing a token of his religion, such as a cross or 
a blessed medal, comes near their meeting place. An old 
woman, whom I am instructing at this time and who long 
belonged to the Big Medicine, has been threatened with 
death by the jugglers if she becomes a Christian; still she 
remains firm in her good resolutions. The example of her 
husband and her six children, whom I have baptized, en- 
courages her to brave these menaces. The chiefs of this 
sect are feared among the savages and impose greatly on 
their credulity; they make the poor Indians believe that 
they can at will take the form of a serpent, bear, wolf or any 
other animal ; that they can foretell the future and discover 
murder and theft. Their knowledge of herbs allows them 
often to make extraordinary cures. After administering 
the medicine to the sick, they utter cries and yells, pretend 
to suck the malady from the body by long tubes, dance 
around the sufferer and perform the most astonishing 
antics before him. 

There is a tradition among the Potawatomies that there 
is in the moon an old woman, always busy at the making 
of a big basket. If she succeeds in finishing her task the 
world must perish ; but a great dog is watching her contin- 
ually, and destroys her work as often as she has it nearly 
done. The fight between the dog and the woman takes 
place at every eclipse of the moon. The big dog is the 
black spot that appears on the south of that luminary. 

The Potawatomi who gives frequent feasts is, according 
to the expression of their songs, one of the heroes of the 
village. At the beginning of winter, when the hunt has been 
successful, every lodge presents a scene of rejoicing. Night 
and day the sound of the flute is heard, together with the 
deafening clamor of the tczueckcn or drum, accompanying 
the monotonous songs of the savages. There is a sacred 
custom among them, that he who gives the feast may take 
no share in it himself ; he would be dishonored and deemed 
sacrilegious. The hunter cuts up the animal that he has 



STORY OF A MAN WITH SIX SONS. 1095 

killed into as many pieces as he wishes to send invitation- 
sticks to his friends. Any one who cannot come to the feast 
sends back the stick with some tobacco or some other small 
present to smooth over his refusal. Generally the whole 
village is invited, for each of the inhabitants lives in a con- 
tinual dread of being poisoned by some jealous neighbor. 
A savage keenly resents a slight or snub ; he is vindictive in 
the extreme, and vengeance being a virtue, according to his 
ideas, sooner or later he will find an occasion to vent all his 
anger upon any one who has dared to scorn him. 

The tragic story which I am about to relate is a striking 
proof of this. I have it from the nephew of Kitchecha- 
onissi himself. One of the finest villages of the Potawato- 
mies, before their emigration to Council Bluffs, was on the 
point where the Kankakee and Des Plaines rivers unite to 
form the Illinois. Kitchechaonissi or Great South Wind, 
a famous warrior, was their chief. His bravery made him 
feared; but at the same time, by his fatherly kindness, he 
had won the esteem and iove of all his people. He was so 
fortunate as to have six sons, brave as himself and ex- 
cellent hunters. He often gave feasts and entertainments 
to all his village. Sometimes, however, he dared to brave 
one or another of his neighbors, neglecting, whether in con- 
tempt or for any other cause, to send them invitation sticks. 

The Indians carry their knowledge of poisons and of the 
art of administering them very far ; they make use of them 
with admirable dexterity upon whomsoever displeases them. 
The five eldest sons of Kitchechaonissi died one soon after 
another in the course of the same year, victims of the 
secret vengeance of some envious or vindictive savage. 
The old man's grief was long and bitter ; years passed with- 
out his giving a single feast, and he obstinately refused all 
invitations. His remaining son was his only consolation, 
his sole hope and the prop of his old age. Endowed with 
all good qualities in mind and body, brave in war, skillful 
in the chase, he was especially noted for a filial devotion and 
submission, until then unequaled among the Indians. Kit- 



1096 BEREAVED OF ALL SIX. 

chechaonissi loved him as much as a father and chief can 
love a distinguished son, the favorite of the village, the 
hero of the nation. His only pleasure was to deck him with 
the richest and finest adornments known to the nations. 
The son, by his assiduous care, had brought back the old 
brave to his former serenity, and apparently to all his 
happiness. 

One day he returned from the hunt with a large bear that 
he had killed, and according to his custom he laid it at the 
feet of Kitchechaonissi. The old man bade him cut up the 
beast and invite all the elders of the village to the Feast of 
the Bear. Through oversight, the young hunter forgot 
four old men of the great medicine band; but he resolved to 
return to the desert immediately after the feast, in order to 
invite them the first to a second banquet. The mirth and 
rejoicings of the people were great on this occasion, for it 
was the first time since the death of his five sons that this 
beloved chief had taken part in a great solemnity. Every- 
thing went off most harmoniously. Kitchechaonissi was at 
the height of pleasure, listening to the praises of his son, 
and the songs that celebrated his great bravery and lofty 
virtues. Alas ! grief followed closely this paternal triumph ; 
the next day the young hero found himself unwell; the 
most famous jugglers were called in to his aid ; but all their 
methods, songs, dances, the power of their breath, were 
practiced to no avail ; the sickness quickly made fearful 
progress, and on the eighth day, all the village, mourning 
and weeping, accompanied Waapekiejeck, the Dawn, which 
was the young warrior's name, to the tomb of his unhappy 
brothers. 

Kitchechaonissi painted himself black and disappeared 
from the village, after the burial; his people sought him 
everywhere, but in vain. He had withdrawn to the most 
desert place, among the cliffs, to weep. Often, in the bitter- 
ness of his heart, he prayed the Master of Life to permit 
him to go and join his dear children in the land of souls. 
One day while seated at the edge of a torrent plunged in 



FRIGHTFUL DISCOVERY. IO97 

reveries, he thought he heard a voice saying, " Rise, Kit- 
chechaonissi, rise quickly; cross the river, chmb the steep 
hills, and you shall see your son whom you so mourn." 
He rose at once ; the sun had just finished his course and 
disappeared behind the distant bluffs. The old man looked 
about him on all sides ; but seeing no one, he raised his eyes 
and hands toward heaven, exclaiming " How now ! shall I 
see my son ? My fingers closed his eyes ; my hands dug his 
grave ; my lips kissed his pale and livid brow, before lower- 
ing him beside his unhappy brothers ! " But an irresistible 
power seemed to drag him on ; he obeyed it. He threw 
himself into the torrent and gained the opposite shore; it 
was a desert place, difficult of access. How great was his 
surprise when he heard the dull sound of a drum, coming 
from a ravine on the farther side of the great hill. Like 
the hunter who has found the trail of the animal he pursues, 
the old man crossed the high mound with a speed astonish- 
ing for his age. The sound of the drum becomes louder 
and louder as he proceeds, and his uneasiness and curiosity 
are extreme. He stops an instant to take breath, and to 
look about him with caution. He soon discovers, in a deep 
ravine, a bark lodge, whence the noise issues. Under cover 
of the darkness he hastens with a light step toward the 
mysterious spot. He trembles in all his limbs ; his blood 
is ice in his veins ; scarcely can he breathe. A thousand 
phantoms rise before his imagination, excited and dis- 
turbed by so many troubles. The promise that he had 
heard upon the rock, " You shall see your son," at last 
reanimates his courage. He takes a few steps forward, 
looks in at a chink in the lodge, and is seized with aston- 
ishment, indignation and horror ; he recognizes the four 
old men who did not take part in the Feast of the Bear, 
busied in horrid incantations with their medicine bag spread 
out before them. He looks more closely and sees five skulls 
upon posts. He goes around the cabin, looks through an- 
other crack, and discovers by the firelight a fifth Indian 
standing motionless at the farther end of the lodge. — Is 



1098 IMMEDIATE REVENGE. 

it his son ? He examines him attentively. He has the same 
garments, the same ornaments, with which he was buried. 
It was thus that he had painted his face at his last feast. — ■ 
But why this livid hue, these closed eyes, this corpselike 
appearance ? How has he come to this fearful desert ? and 
in a society a thousand times more fearful yet ? For a long 
time Kitchechaonissi had suspected these four old men of 
being the cause of his sorrows. Thoughts of vengeance, 
hope, doubt, were toiling in his breast. He knew not what 
to do; he watched all their motions and listened attentively. 
The one who had the drum began beating it again ; the next 
shook his gourd rattle, the third blew the flute, while the 
fourth addressed the most insulting language to the young 
hero, boasting at the same time of the great power of their 
medicines, which neither he nor his brothers had been able 
to resist. Like a tiger, or a lioness robbed of her young 
ones, Kitchechaonissi felt all at once his vigor return, his 
blood boiled in his veins. Armed with his terrible toma- 
hawk, he rushed into the lodge and discharged all his fury 
upon the terrified murderers of his children ; he laid them all 
dead at his feet, and they dared not try to resist him. Then 
he went to embrace his son, and found that he had in his 
arms only his stuffed skin. — This occurrence was soon 
known to all the village ; the young man's grave was 
opened; his remains were not there, nor those of his 
brothers. Circumstances proved beyond a doubt that the 
old men were the poisoners, and that they had received, 
according to Indian customs, the just penalty of their 
crimes. 

I have the honor to be, etc. 



"^ Their songs always have some bearing on their religious 
opinions ; they often address them to Na-na-bush, or the 

■^ Extract from manuscript letter on the Potawatomies, dated Council 
Bluffs, St. Joseph Mission, August 20, 1838. 



BENEVOLENT DIVINITIES. 1099 

Friend of Man, the nephew of the human race. They beg 
him to be their spokesman, and present their prayers to the 
Master of Life. Often too they are consecrated to Me-suk- 
kum-ik-okwi, or the Earth, the great-grandmother of the 
human race. They tell in these songs how Na-na-bush 
created the earth by the Great Spirit's orders, and how the 
great-grandmother received a command to provide for all 
the wants of the uncles and aunts of Na-na-bush ; meaning 
thereby men and women. Na-na-bush, always the benevo- 
lent intercessor of the human race, obtained from the Great 
Spirit the creation of animals; their flesh was to serve as 
food and their skins for raiment. He procured also for 
mankind medicinal roots and herbs of sovereign power, to 
cure their maladies and enable them to kill the animals in 
the chase. All these things were intrusted to Me-suk-kum- 
ik-okwi, and in order that Na-na-bush's uncles and aunts 
might never invoke her in vain, he asked her always to stay 
at home. For this reason, when an Indian is digging up 
medicinal roots, he always deposits in the ground his little 
offering to Me-suk-kum-ik-okwi. 

All these songs are marked down on birch bark or on 
little flat pieces of wood. The ideas are expressed by 
emblematic figures. 

They believe the thunder to be the voice of certain living 
beings. Some think that these beings resemble men, others 
that they have the form of birds. Every time that it 
thunders, they burn tobacco, offering it as a sacrifice to the 
thunder. It is doubtful whether they know the connection 
between the thunder and the lightning-flash that precedes it. 



CHAPTER IX. 

AN OLD DELAWARE LEGEND.^ 

Sorrows of the daughter of Wawanosh — Delaware legend of the 
rainbow. 

'^'WO centuries have passed away since the fame of Wa- 
^^ wanosh was sounded along the shores of Lake Super- 
ior. He was a Delaware chief of an ancient line, who had 
preserved the chieftainship in their family from the remotest 

1 The name Delaware, that the Indians of this nation bear, was 
given them by the whites. It is derived from Lord Delaware, one of 
the early English colonial governors in America. Among themselves 
these people are called Lenni Lennapi or the primitive nation. They 
rei,ided anciently in a great country west of the Mississippi. With the 
" Five Nations " so renowned in the Indian history of this continent, 
they seized and occupied a large territory southeast of their ancient 
domain. In the course of this long migration, the Delawares divided 
into three great tribes, called the Tortoise tribe, the Turkey tribe and 
the Wolf tribe. In the time of William Penn they occupied the whole 
of Pennsylvania, and extended from the Potomac to the Hudson. As 
the white population began to increase, strengthen and extend over 
these vast territories, the Delawares (like all the other tribes) found 
it necessary to plunge deeper into the forests and plains, and yield to 
their conquerors or usurpers. While a great part of the nation es- 
tablished themselves on the Ohio, or the margin of the Muskingum, 
others regained the shores and the forests of the Mississippi, whence, 
according to their traditions, their ancestors had set forth. When 
colonies of Europeans came to take possession of that large and hand- 
some river, which the celebrated Jesuit Marquette first discovered, and 
Lto which he] gave the now consoling and sublime name of the " Im- 
maculate Conception," they repulsed once more the Delawares, and 
Government granted these Indians a little territory southwest of Fort 
Leavenworth on the Missouri. In 1854 the Delawares ceded this last 
foothold to the United States. — Author's Note. 

[iioo] 



THE HAUGHTY PARENT. I lOI 

times, and in consequence had a lofty pride of ancestry. To 
the reputation of his birth, he added the advantages of a 
tall and commanding person, and the dazzling qualities of 
great personal strength, courage and activity. His heavy 
bow was renowned for its dimensions throughout the sur- 
rounding plains, and he was known to have shot one of his 
flint-headed arrows through the body of a deer. His coun- 
sel was as much sought as his prowess was feared ; so that 
he came in time to be equally famed as a hunter, a warrior, 
and a sage. But he had now passed the meridian of his 
days, and the term "Ak-kee-wai-zee," " one who has been 
long above the earth," was familiarly applied to him. Such 
was Wawanosh, to whom the united voice of the nation 
awarded the first place in their esteem, and the highest seat 
in authority. But pride was his ruling passion. Wawanosh 
had an only daughter, Avho had now lived to witness the 
budding of the leaves for the eighteenth spring. Her father 
was not more celebrated for his deeds of strength than she 
for her gentle virtues and all the accomplishments of an 
Indian maid. 

Her hand was sought by a youth of humble parentage, 
who had no other merits to recommend him but such as 
might arise from a tall and graceful person, a manly step, 
and an eye beaming with the fires of youth and ardent 
attachment. These were sufficient to attract the favorable 
notice of the daughter, but were by no means satisfactory 
to the father, who sought an alliance more suitable to his 
rank and the high pretensions of his family. 

" Listen to me, young man," replied Wawanosh to the 
trembling hunter who had sought the interview, " and be 
attentive to what you hear. You ask me to bestow upon 
you my daughter, the chief solace of my age and my choicest 
gift from the Master of Life. Others have asked of me this 
boon, who were as young, as active, and as ardent as your- 
self. Some of these persons have had better claims to be- 
come my son-in-law. Young man, have you considered well 
who it is that vou would choose for a father-in-law ? Have 



1 102 THE LOVER IS TOLD TO MAKE A RECORD 

you reflected upon the deeds which have raised me in au- 
thority, and made my name known to the enemies of my 
nation? Where is the chief who is not proud to be con- 
sidered the friend of Wawanosh ? Where is the hunter who 
can bend the bow of Wawanosh ? Where is the warrior who 
does not wish to be one day the equal in bravery of Wa- 
wanosh? Have you not heard that my fathers came from 
the far east decked with eagle plumes (marks of bravery) 
and clothed with authority? 

"And what, young man, have you to boast of that you 
should claim an alliance with my warlike line? Have you 
ever met your enemies on the battle-field? Have you ever 
brought to the camp a trophy of victory? Have you ever 
proved your fortitude by suffering protracted pain, endur- 
ing continued hunger, or sustaining great fatigue ? Is your 
name known beyond the humble limits of your native vil- 
lage? Go then, young man, and earn a name for yourself. 
It is none but the brave who can ever hope to claim an alli- 
ance with the wigwam of Wawanosh. Think not my an- 
cient blood shall mingle with the humble mark of the 
Azvajisees (a kind of fish), fit totem (family distinction) 
for fishermen." 

The humbled and intimidated youth departed ; but he re- 
solved to do a deed that should render him worthy of the 
daughter of Wawanosh, or die in the attempt. He called 
together several of his young companions and equals in 
years and imparted to them his design of conducting an 
expedition against the enemy, and requested their assistance. 
Several embraced the proposal immediately; others were 
soon persuaded into it, and before ten suns had set he saw 
himself at the head of a formidable party of young warriors, 
all eager, like himself, to distinguish themselves in battle 

Each warrior, according to the custom of the day, was 
armed with a bow and a quiver of arrows, tipped with flint 
or jasper. He carried a mush-kee-moet or knapsack upon his 
back, provided with a small quantity of parched and pounded 
corn, mixed with a little pemmican or pounded dry meat. He 



AND RESOLVES TO DO OR DIE. IIO3 

was furnished with a puggamaugun, or war-club, of hard 
wood, fastened to a girth of deer-skin, and a kind of stone 
knife. In addition to this, some carried the ancient shee- 
sheegwun, or Indian lance, consisting of a smooth pole about 
six feet in length, with a spear of flint firmly tied on with 
splints of hard wood, bound down with deer sinews. Thus 
equipped, and each warrior painted in a manner to suit his 
own fancy, and ornamented with appropriate feathers, they 
repaired to the spot appointed for the war dance. 

A level grassy plain extended for nearly a mile from the 
lodge of Wawanosh toward the point of land called Sliog- 
woi-ma-koony. Lodges of bark were promiscuously inter- 
spersed over this green, with here and there a cluster of trees 
or a solitary pine which had escaped the fury of tempests 
for so many years. A beach of yellow sand skirted the lake 
shore in front, and a tall forest of oaks, pines and poplars 
formed the background. In the centre of this green stood 
a large shattered pine ; with a clear space around, renowned 
as the scene of the war dance, time out of mind. Here the 
youths assembled, with their tall and graceful leader, dis- 
tinguished by the feathers of the white eagle which adorned 
his head. A bright fire of pine wood blazed upon the green. 
He led his men twice and thrice in a circle around this fire, 
with a measured step and solemn chant. Then suddenly 
halting, the war-whoop was raised, and the dance imme- 
diately began. An old man sitting at the head of the ring 
beat time upon the drum, while several of the warriors 
shook their sheesheegzvtms, and ever and anon made the 
woods re-echo with their yells. 

Thus they continued the dance for two days and nights, 
with short intermissions ; when dropping off, one by one, 
from the fire, each sought his own way to the place ap- 
pointed for the rendezvous, on the confines of the enemies' 
country. 

Their leader was not among the last to depart; before 
leaving the village he bid an affectionate adieu to the 
daughter of Wawanosh. He imparted to her his firm de- 



II04 SHE NEVER SMILED AGAIN. 

termination to perform an act that would establish his name 
as a warrior, or die in the attempt. He told her of the 
bitter pangs he had felt at her father's taunts ; that his soul 
spurned the imputations of cowardice implied by his lan- 
guage. He declared that he never could be happy, either 
with or without her, until he had proved to the whole tribe 
the strength of his heart, which is the Indian term for 
courage. He said his dreams had not been so propitious as 
he could wish, but that he would not cease to invoke the 
favor of the Great Spirit in his behalf. He repeated his pro- 
testations of invincible attachment, which she returned, and 
pledging vows of mutual fidelity, they separated. 

All she ever heard of the young warrior after this inter- 
view was that he had received an arrow in his breast, after 
having distinguished himself by the most heroic bravery. 
The enemy fled, leaving many of their warriors dead on the 
field. On examining his wound, it was perceived to be be- 
yond their power to cure. He languished a short time, and 
expired in the arms of his friends. 

From that hour no smile was ever seen in the once happy 
lodge of Wawanosh. His daughter pined away by day and 
by night. Tears and sighs, sorrow and lamentation were 
heard continually. No efforts to amuse were capable of 
restoring her lost serenity of mind. Persuasion and reproof 
were alternately employed, but employed in vain. It became 
her favorite custom to fly to a sequestered spot in the woods, 
where she would sit under a shady tree and sing her mourn- 
ful laments for whole hours together. 

Thus she daily repeated her plaintive song. It was not 
long before a small bird of beautiful plumage flew upon the 
tree beneath which she usually sat ; and with its sweet and 
artless note seemed to respond to her voice. It was a bird 
of a strange appearance ; such as she had never seen before. 
It came every day and sang to her, remaining until it be- 
came dark. Her fond imagination soon led her to suppose 
it was the dead warrior's spirit, and her visits were repeated 
with greater frequency. 



THE CRUEL FATHERS REMORSE. IIO5 

She did nothing but sing and fast. Thus she pined away, 
until death, which she sq frequently desired, came to her 
relief. After her decease, the bird was never more seen; 
and it became a popular opinion that this mysterious bird 
had flown away with her spirit to the happy land of life. 
But the bitter tears of remorse fell in the lodge of Wawa- 
nosh ; and he lived many years to regret his false pride and 
his harsh treatment of the noble youth. 

Thus far the legend which I hold from a worthy sachem 
of the Lenni Lennapi nation or Delawares. 



The Indian Tradition of the Flood and the Rainbow.^ 

This is the opinion concerning the rainbow and the deluge, 
which I have found among the Lenni-Lennapi or Dela- 
wares,^ who inhabit the Territory of Kansas in the United 
States. 

Sin-go-wi-chi-na-xa* is the name the Lenni-Lennapi, or 
First People, give to the rainbow. It is a very significant 
word; it comprehends a great many things and can hardly 
be translated. I will try, however, to give the literal signifi- 
cation. Sin-go-wi-chi-na-xa means a large luminous circle, 
composed of several narrow circles, differing from one 
another in color, but so mingled that no line of demarca- 
tion can be observed between them. 

The following is the tradition that is handed down in this 
tribe. The rainbow dates from the oldest times. After the 
creation of the earth, the Great Spirit covered it with a dark 
blue and azure vault. A great uneasiness took possession 

2 From the French of the third Belgian edition. 

3 Father De Smet does not appear ever to have been among the Dela- 
wares. His informant in the lore of that nation* was Reverend Father 
Beschor, Delaware and Jesuit, whose story he has told under the name 
of Watomika. 

* The letter x is used to indicate the German ch-sound. 
70 



II06 TALE OF FOUR SPIRITS 

of the heart of the spirit or Manitou of the Waters. He 
feared that the rain would no longer be able to penetrate this 
azure blackness, and that consequently the element in which 
he had his pleasure and which yielded him existence, namely, 
water, would fail him, and that he, abandoned and without 
a dominion, would become an object of scorn and ridicule 
among the other tutelary spirits of the earth. The Spirit of 
the Waters therefore made a humble appeal to the Great 
Spirit, praying him to have pity on him and not permit so 
great a calamity to come upon him. 

The plaintive words of the Spirit of the Waters went to 
the heart of the Great Spirit, and he was penetrated by pity 
and compassion. For this reason he deigned to open an 
attentive and benevolent ear to his discourse. 

The Great Spirit therefore assured the Spirit of the Wa- 
ters that his fears were unfounded, and as a proof, he com- 
manded the Spirit of the Wind, who resides in the region 
of the setting sun, to blow with impetuosi4:y. Immediately 
thick and sombre clouds were seen above the western hori- 
zon. They spread abroad with great rapidity, until the 
black azure of the firmament, which had so greatly alarmed 
the Spirit of the Waters, had entirely disappeared. 

Then the voice of the Great Spirit was heard amid the 
clouds. Its sound was heavy, deep and prolonged, resem- 
bling the noise of bellowing waters falling in a multitude of 
cataracts, falls or cascades. 

At the same instant, the Spirit of the Rain, the brother of 
the Spirit of the Waters and the Spirit of the Wind, broke 
forth and loosed himself in torrents. The waters fell and 
continued to fall, until the rivers and lakes had overflowed 
their limits and covered the surface of the earth. The birds 
took refuge in the highest branches of the trees, and the ani- 
mals sought the summits of the loftiest mountains. 

At this sight, the heart of the Spirit of the Waters became 
calm and tranquil once more; he ceased to dread and to 
doubt his lot. 



AND ORIGIN OF THE RAINBOW. IIO7 

His submission was agreeable to the Great Spirit, and he 
ordered the rain to cease and the clouds to disappear, at sight 
of the luminous circle called Sin-go-wi-chi-na-xa. 

Ever since that time, the Lenni-Lennapi salute the rain- 
bow whenever it is displayed, because they regard it as a 
certain sign of the benevolent disposition of the Great Spirit. 

Such is the tradition of the rainbow among the Delawares, 
and it is evidently the altered history of the deluge. How 
did this knowledge reach these savages ? It is evidently one 
of the secrets of God. 



CHAPTER X. 
tchatka/ the chief of the assiniboins. 

Tchatka's beginnings as a medicine man — Removal of his uncle — 
Poison and pyrotechnics — A big drum — A medicine dream — A suc- 
cessful war-party — Abundant scalps — Marries plentifully — His co- 
adjutor — Reverses on the warpath — Attempts seizure of Fort Union 
— Runs out of poison — Disastrous defeat — Predicts his own death — 
Notes on the Assiniboins. 

Reverend Father: 

|PIOU have received the address of Matau-Witko,^ or 
A> Crazy Bear, the present chief of the Assiniboins. 

This has shown the favorable dispositions entertained by 
that chief for our holy religion. I spoke to you of their 
hunts, of an expedition of peace and war sent by the Crows, 

1 The story of Tchatka was furnished Father De Smet by the Indian 
trader, Edwin T. Denig, and was sent in French to Reverend Father 
Terwecoren, editor Precis Historiques. It forms Letter XIII, Second 
Series, Cinquante Nouvellcs Le tires and Western Missions and Mis- 
sionaries. The latter text is here followed. 

2 Maximilian of Wied mentions this chief, calling him Manh-Ouitkatt, 
or rOurs Fou. He appears also in Larpenteur as Crazy Bear, and is 
there said to have proved the greatest chief of the Assiniboins. 
" Tchatka " means left hand in the Assiniboin language. Maximilian 
of Wied saw this chief leading the attack on Fort Mackenzie, August 
28, 1833; gives his name as Minohenne (which would apparently mean 
something about water) and says he assumed the name Tatogan, or 
Antelope, after that occurrence. Tchatka appears occasionally in Lar- 
penteur's journal, where he is called Gauche, and nicknamed Co-han — 
" hurry up." He is described as a " queer kind of grizzly-bear fellow, 
very odd in his way," and as " the terror of all the neighboring tribes." 
Left Hand is still told of by old Assiniboins, and a lineal descendant of 
his, named Left Handed Bear, is (1903) living on one of the Montana 
reservations. In Father De Smet's manuscript letters he calls him 
variously Gaucher, Gauchet and Gauche. 

[1108] 



TCHATKA WAS A BAD INDIAN. I IO9 

or AbsharokaySj to the Blackfeet, or Ziarzapas,^ their in- 
veterate enemies. I have described the Assiniboin worship, 
which, in regard to ceremonies, superstitious practices, and 
various point of behef, resembles all others in use among the 
different Indian tribes of the Upper Missouri. 

These details must have given you an idea of the depth of 
heathen darkness in which the North American Indians are 
yet shrouded. How worthy, alas! are they of exciting 
Christian compassion and devotedness ! How noble the mis- 
sion of rescuing the minds and hearts of this despised and 
forlorn race from the degrading superstitions and infamous 
cruelties to which they are abandoned : of sowing in that 
uncultivated soil the mustard seed, which will spring up and 
bear the immortal blossoms of present and future happiness ! 

Some of our Fathers are already engaged in this noble 
task. It is to be hoped that a greater number may be in- 
spired to join them in bearing the torch of faith to all the 
nations which deserve it, and incessantly implore Black- 
robes. I speak from actual knowledge when I say that most 
of the nations of the great desert manifest a desire for in- 
struction, and listen willingly to the word of the Lord. 

To initiate you still further in the knowledge of Indian 
manners and customs, I have thought that you would be 
pleased to receive a sketch of the life of the most renowned 
chief of the Assiniboins. He was a crafty, cruel, deceitful 
man, a bad Indian, in every sense of the word; his whole 
life was full of horrors. For forty years he led his tribe in 
the forest. At the commencement of his career, his band 
numbered over 2,000. He led them from war to war, some- 
times with success, often with reverse. Disease thinned the 
band — poison and battle wasted them like snow. When 
they were but a handful, he beheld the remnant of his gal- 
lant band disperse and seek an asylum in a more powerful 

3 Father De Smet has here confused different families known by the 
name of Blackfeet. The Sihasapa are a division of the Teton Sioux, 
elsewhere called by him Blackfoot-Sioux, and they have nothing to do 
with the Blackfeet proper. 



1 1 10 HOW THE INDIANS DISAPPEAR, 

and numerous camp. He died as he had hved. Either from 
fear, jealousy or hatred, he had recourse to poison to rid 
himself of all who opposed him. Pursued by remorse and 
despair, he used the same means to put an end to his own 
days. He died in most terrible convulsions. This story 
will show you that the Indians, too, have their Neros and 
Caligulas. 

All the accounts that I have read on the statistics of the 
Indians, show that their numbers constantly decrease. To 
what is this remarkable decline to be ascribed? The his- 
tory of the Assiniboin tribe, led by this wicked chief, is 
more or less the history of the decline of the other tribes. 
Ambitious chiefs and partisans keep up incessant wars in 
their tribes, and unknown diseases thin them. Then comes 
the acquaintance with the whites; the Indians learn, and 
easily adopt, the vices and excesses of the pioneers of our 
civilization. The spirituous liquors, which they offer the In- 
dians in abundance — more terrible than war — sweep them 
off by hundreds, and they disappear, leaving behind them 
only sad mounds, as tombs, which dot the plains and high- 
lands by the river-side, till the plow at last levels these 
last vestiges of a race. 

If time permits, I will hereafter give some details on the 
present condition of the Indian tribes under the domination 
of the Great Republic. The Government has just organ- 
ized, in the western desert, two new Territories — Kansas 
and Nebraska.* They embrace an extent of neither more 

4 Nebraska Territory extends to 49° north, the northern boundary 
of the United States ; on the south, the line of 40" separates it from 
Kansas ; its eastern limit is the White river and the Missouri, which 
separate it from Minnesota and Iowa ; on the west, it extends to the 
Rocky Mountains. 

Kansas Territory extends three degrees, or 208 miles, farther south ; 
on the east is the State of Missouri ; on the north, the thirty-seventh 
degree separates it from the Cherokee Reservation ; on the west, it is 
bounded by the Rocky Mountains. 

These two Territories contain over 500,000 square miles, or forty 
times the surface of Belgium. — Author's Note. 



TCHATKA FROM A STRONG FAMILY. I II I 

nor less than between 500,000 and 600,000 square miles. 
They will then be divided into several States, and each 
of these States will be larger than France. Whites are 
already pouring in in thousands, all hastening to take 
possession of the best sites. The law has just passed; no 
steps are yet taken to protect the Indians, and already fifty 
new towns and villages are in progress ; barns, farms, mills, 
etc., rise on all sides as though by enchantment. I did not 
then think that the moment of invasion was so near. 

The narrative with which I will entertain you to-day is 
well known in all the region where the scenes occurred. I 
have it from two most reliable sources — that is to say, from 
a man of tried probity and veracity, Mr. Denig, of the St. 
Louis Fur Company, and from a worthy Canadian inter- 
preter. Both resided many years among the Assiniboins, 
and knew the subject of the story, and witnessed many of 
his acts. 

This hero is Tchatka or le Gaucher, an Assiniboin chief. 
He exercised, during his long career, more power over the 
band or tribe that he led and governed, than any other 
savage Nestor whose history I have learned. He had re- 
ceived several names; but that of Gaucher, or Awkward, 
is that by which he was known among the voyageiirs^ and 
fur-traders. His other names were, Wah-kon-tangka, or 
Big Medicine; Mina-Yougha, or the Knifeholder; and 
Tatokah-nan, or the Kid. These titles were bestowed on 
him at different periods of his life, in memory of some re- 
markable deed by which he had distinguished himself, and 
which will appear in the course of my narrative. 

The family of Tchatka was very numerous, and enjoyed 
great influence. As the members purposed electing him 
their chief, and conductor of the camp, as soon as he should 
attain his majority, he attracted the attention of the north- 
ern fur-traders of Upper Canada and the Hudson Bay Com- 

^ I use the word voyageur, a Canadian term, adopted in English to 
designate the white hunters of the West, a peculiar set of men. — 
Author's Note. 



1 1 12 BECOMES A MEDICINE MAN. 

pany's territory. The intimacy which he ciUtivated with 
the whites, united to a high degree of native cunning, 
proved the means of his acquiring many arts, which gave 
him on his return a kind of distinction among his people. 
He had also obtained, by means of a white man, a quantity 
of poison, and had learned its properties and use. Tchatka 
was an unprincipled, deceitful, cunning, cowardly man. 
Although young and vigorous he always kept out of danger. 
While the warriors of his tribe were fighting in the plain, 
he would be seated on a hill or some other spot from which 
he could observe all that passed. He had been initiated 
into all the tricks of the jugglers. He never performed in- 
cantation and juggleries without a good horse beside him, 
on which he sprang in case of defeat. He was always the 
first to escape, abandoning the combatants to their own luck, 
and got ofif as well as he could. As we shall see in the se- 
quel, he became chief of 280 lodges, or about 1,200 war- 
riors. The great confidence which they had in their leader 
seems to have been the cause of his great success in the 
war against the Blackfeet and other enemies of the nation. 
As soon as Tchatka had attained the requisite age, he 
used every effort to attain his object and satisfy his am- 
bition. He calculated the advantages and ascendency he 
would obtain over the people by becoming initiated in the 
great band of medicine men or jugglers,^ and he pretended 
to the gift of prophecy. A second motive for this initiation 
was, that he might thereby conceal his want of bravery — a 
quality indispensable in a chief. Many remarkable stories 
are related of his exactitude in predicting future events, and 
for which the simple savages could give no explanation. 

8 The Wah-kons, or medicine men, among the American Indians, and 
the Panomoosi of Northern Asia, belong to the same class. In both 
hemispheres these charlatans pretend to heal diseases by witchcraft; 
they predict the issue of wars and hunts. In all cases they pretend to 
be inspired by manitous ; that is, divinities or spirits. They generally 
retire to the depth of the forests, where they pretend to fast for several 
days, and often practice very rigorous penances, consisting especially in 



DEALS IN POISONS AND PROPHECIES. II I3 

Tchatka was not ignorant that there were several persons 
in the tribe whose influence was great, who were older than 
he, and who had acquired by their valor in war, and by 
their wisdom in the council, real titles to the dignity of head 
chief. In order to arrogate to himself the sole government 
of the camp, he conceived the frightful design of getting 
rid of his competitors. He brought to the execution of his 
project all his cunning and deceit. I have already alluded 
to the poisons in his possession. By secret experiments he 
became well informed concerning their power and influ- 
ence. He administered them himself, or by the hands of 
others, so adroitly that not the least suspicion was excited. 
His character of prophet came to his aid. He predicted to 
his victims, often several weeks and months before the 
event, that they had not long to live, according to the revela- 
tions of his Wah-kon, and manitous or spirits. The accom- 
plishment of this species of prediction established his reputa- 
tion ; he obtained the title of " Strong in Jugglery." The 
poor savages regarded him with fear and respect — as a 
being who could at his will dispose of life. Many made him 
presents of horses and other objects, in order to escape figur- 
ing on the list of his fatal predictions. 

The most influential and courageous personage of the 
Assiniboins, the principal obstacle to the ambition of Gau- 
cher or Tchatka, was his own uncle. To a lofty stature, 
his uncle joined a bravery, a boldness, and a violence which 
no one dared oppose. He bore the name of Walking Bow, 

corporal macerations ; then they beat the drum, dance, sing, smoke, 
cry, and howl like wild beasts. All these preparatives are accompanied 
by a host of furious actions, and such extraordinary contortions of 
body, that they would seem possessed. These jugglers are visited 
secretly by night by accomplices in their craft and hypocrisy, who carry 
them all the news of the village and its neighborhood. By these means 
the jugglers, on leaving the forest and returning to the village, easily 
impose on the credulous. The first part of their predictions consists 
in giving an exact account of all the events of the village since their 
departure — marriages, deaths, returns from the war or the hunt, and 
all other remarkable items. — Author's Note. 



II 14 PLANS HIS UNCLES REMOVAL 

or Itazipa-man. He was renowned for his valorous deeds 
in combat. His robe, his casque, his clothing, his toma- 
hawk, lance, and even the bridle and saddle of his steed, 
were adorned with scalps and trophies taken from his ene- 
mies. He was surnamed The One-eyed, or Istagon, because 
he had lost an eye in battle by an arrow. 

Tchatka was jealous of the power of Istagon, and of the 
influence the latter exercised over the whole tribe. Hitherto 
he had not attempted the life of his uncle; as he feared his 
anger, he desired to assure himself of his protection. He 
needed him as long as those were living who might oppose 
his ambitious march, the success of which was so little 
merited on his part; no deed of arms, no trophy gained from 
the enemy, could authorize him to carry his pretensions 
higher. By his arts and flattery, by an assiduous attention 
and feigned submission to the smallest desires of the chief, 
the cunning young man succeeded in gaining the friendship 
and confidence of his uncle. They saw each other more 
frequently ; they gave each other feasts and banquets, in 
which the greatest harmony seemed to reign. One evening 
Tchatka presented his guest a poisoned dish : the latter, ac- 
cording to the Indian custom, ate the whole. Knowing, by 
experience, that in a few hours the ingredient would pro- 
duce its effects, Tchatka invited all the principal braves and 
soldiers of the camp to repair to his lodge, announcing that 
he had an affair of the highest importance to communicate 
to them. He placed his Wah-kon in the most suitable and 
most conspicuous part of his lodge. This Wah-kon of Gau- 
cher's consisted of a stone, painted red, and surrounded by 
a little fence of small sticks about six inches in length. It 
lay at a little distance from the fire, which was burning in 
the centre of the lodge, and opposite the place where he sat. 
Ii had occupied this place for several years. 

As soon as the whole assembly were arranged. Tchatka 
disclosed his Wah-kon. He declared to them that the thun- 
der, during a nocturnal storm, had launched this stone into 
the middle of his lodge; that the voice of the thunder had 



i 



AND POISONS HIM AT A FEAST. III5 

told him that it possessed the gift and the spirit of proph- 
ecy; that the Wah-kon stone had announced that a great 
event was about to take place in the camp ; for that very- 
night the most valiant brave of the tribe would struggle in 
the arms of death, and that another, more favored than he 
by the spirits, would take his place, and would be proclaimed 
head chief of the camp; that at the very moment the chief 
expired, the Wah-kon stone would vanish, and accompany 
the spirit of the deceased into the country of souls. 

A mournful silence succeeded this singular declaration. 
Astonishment, mingled with superstitious dread, was de- 
picted on the faces of all those who composed the assembly. 
No one dared to contradict the discourse of Tchatka, or call 
in doubt his words. Besides, on many other occasions his 
predictions had been realized at the appointed time. He 
whose death had been foretold, without being named, was 
present. As several occupied nearly as high a rank as him- 
self in the camp, and shared the power in concert with Ista- 
gon, the latter did not at first apply to himself exclusively 
the announcement of death which had just been made so 
mysteriously. He did not yet feel the effects of the poisoned 
dish, and had not even the slightest suspicion on the sub- 
ject. Each withdrew to his own lodge; but dark apprehen- 
sions troubled their minds, and agitation controlled their 
hearts. Who will be the victim announced ? 

Toward midnight a messenger informed Gaucher that 
his uncle and friend was very sick, and wished positively to 
speak with him. The uncle suspected the perfidy of his 
nephew, and was resolved to stretch him dead at his feet 
while he yet possessed sufficient strength. The wily Tchatka 
answered the messenger, " Go, tell Istagon that my visit to 
him would prove useless. I could not possibly at this mo- 
ment quit my lodge and my Wah-kon." 

In the mean time a great tumult and great confusion 
arose throughout the camp; consternation became general. 
In his horrible convulsions, and before they had deprived 
him of the use of speech, Istagon declared to the braves who 



IIl6 TCHATKA PROFESSES INNOCENCE 

first answered his call, that he suspected Tchatka of being 
the cause of his death. They at once uttered shrieks of rage 
and vengeance against the latter, and hastened to his lodge 
to execute their threats. Tchatka, apparently grieved and 
melancholy, on account of the unhappy lot of his uncle, 
and trembling with fear at the sight of so many uplifted 
tomahawks, besought these avengers of Istagon to suspend 
their wrath and deign to listen to him. " Relations and 
friends," said he, "Istagon is my uncle; the same blood 
flows in our veins ; he has ever loaded me with marks of 
his friendship and his confidence. How then could I injure 
him? A few moments ago you saw him vigorous with 
health; now that he is grappling with death you come to 
discharge your vengeance upon me! What have I done to 
deserve it ? I predicted the event ! How could I help doing 
so ? Such was the decree of my great Wah-kon ! Ap- 
proach, and observe it closely, for I announced at the same 
time that my Wah-kon would disappear, in order to accom- 
pany the soul of the chief into the region of spirits. If my 
word is accomplished, and my Wah-kon stone disappears, 
is it not an evident sign that the death of Istagon is rather 
a decree of the manitous than a treachery on my part? 
Wait, and judge for yourselves." These few words had the 
desired effect; they seated themselves as sentinels around 
the mysterious stone. Neither calumet nor dish was handed 
round in this mute circle — silent in appearance, but tumultu- 
ous in reality, for their hearts were agitated with different 
emotiorfs, to which the discourse of the perfidious Tchatka 
had given rise. 

During the two hours that this scene lasted, the fire 
gradually became dim, and shed only a few feeble glimmer- 
ings, which were from time to time reflected from these 
sombre and sinister faces. In the interval, some runners 
arrived, to announce the progress of the malady. " Istagon 
is in convulsions, and utters naught but shrieks of rage and 
despair against his nephew — his convulsions grow more fee- 
ble — he is losing his speech — he can only be heard with 



AND PROVES IT WITH A MIRACLE. Ill J 

difficulty — he is in agony — Istagon is dead." Cries of dis- 
tress accompanied this last message. At the same instant 
the mysterious stone burst into a thousand fragments, with 
a noise Hke thunder, which palsied all present with fear. 
In scattering, it filled the lodge with cinders and fire, and 
wounded severely the nearest of the observers. Stunned 
and frightened, all took flight from this scene of prodigies. 
The indignation and revenge which animated them a mo- 
ment before against Tchatka, gave place to fear, mingled 
with awe and respect for him, and they no longer dared 
approach him. The supernatural power of the Wah-kon 
was acknowledged, and he who had received it from'^ the 
thunder was honored throughout the camp with the title of 
Wah-kon-Tangka, that is. Great Medicine. 

This pretended supernatural afTair is thus explained : The 
wily savage had been a long time preparing the part he 
intended performing. Some days beforehand he pierced the 
stone, and charged it with nearly a pound of powder. A 
train of powder, carefully covered over, conducted from 
the place in which he was seated to the hole excavated in 
the stone — a distance of six or eight feet. He seized a 
favorable instant for lighting a piece of tinder, and at the 
very moment that the death of the " One-eyed " was an- 
nounced, he fired the train — the stone exploded. 

All these subtle and perfidious means of Gaucher must 
appear very simple in the civilized world, where poison and 
powder are so often employed in all manner of crimes and 
misdemeanors ; but among the Indians the case was widely 
dififerent. They were then ignorant of the destructive power 
of these two articles. It is not therefore astonishing that 
they saw only Wah-kon — that is to say, the supernatural 
and incomprehensible — in all this. 

At his death, Istagon left a great number of friends, 
especially among the warriors, who were sincerely attached 
to him on account of his bravery. Several among them. 

''' Fr. from it. 



Ill8 HE INVENTS A NOTABLE DRUM 

less credulous perhaps than the others, eyed Tchatka with 
stern and threatening looks every time that he appeared in 
public. But as he lived retired, rarely quitting his lodge, 
their disdain and aversion for him were not much remarked. 
Besides, as I have already observed, he had a numerous band 
of relatives; the members of his family, on whom he could 
rely, with his partisans, formed a fourth part of all the 
CJ.mps, or about eighty lodges. 



Tchatka was well persuaded that a politic stroke was still 
necessary to gain the undecided, the discontented, and the 
incredulous. Circumstances seemed to favor this measure ; 
he resolved to have recourse to it while the prodigy of the 
stone was still fresh in their memory. It has occasionally 
happened, too, that on the death of a chief, a numerous 
camp divides into different companies, above all if there 
had existed any anterior discord. Tchatka, therefore, shut 
himself in his lodge during several days, without communi- 
cating openly with any one. The camp expected something 
marvelous. The causes of this long retreat were discussed ; 
they lost themselves in conjectures ; all, however, were fully 
persuaded that some new manifestation, either good or evil, 
would be the result. On the fifth day of Tchatka's retreat, 
a general uneasiness was manifested among the savages, 
and they spoke of dividing. 

What was the famous Tchatka, the Great Medicine — the 
hope of some, and the terror of others — doing? Nothing 
else than making a drum, or tchaiit-cheega-kaho, of dimen- 
sions that never any Indian had imagined. Some time 
beforehand, in the premeditation of his exploit, he had 
secretly sawed a piece of an enormous hollow tree, very 
suitable to his design. Its height three feet, and its breadth 
two, his drum resembled a churn. One end was covered 
with goat skin, and the other only with wood. He employed 
several days in cutting and scraping the interior of this 



AND PROMULGATES A DREAM, 1 1 19 

famous instrument, in order to render it lighter. On the 
exterior of this tchant-clicega-kabo, he painted the figures of 
a grizzly bear, of a tortoise, of a buffalo bull — three superior 
genii in the catalogue of the Indian manitous. Between these 
figures were painted human heads, without scalps, filling 
every space, about eighty in number. On the skin of the 
drum, a chief of the Blackfeet tribe was represented, with- 
out a scalp, in black, and daubed with vermilion. 

He had finished his work, and made all his preparations. 
At midnight the voice of Tchatka was heard, with the muf- 
fled sound of his tchant-chccga, which resounded through 
the camp. As though just coming forth from an ecstasy, he 
offered aloud his thankgivings and his invocations to the 
Great Spirit, and to all his favorite manitous, to thank them 
for the new favors with which they had just crowned him, 
the effects of which were to reflect upon the whole tribe. 
Without delay, every one listened to his call and repaired 
to his lodge. Observing the usual customs, the counselors, 
the principal among the braves and soldiers, entered first, 
and soon filled his abode; while hundreds of the curious, 
old and young, collected and besieged it without. Curiosity 
is at its highest pitch ; they are on fire to learn the explana- 
tion of the mysterious news; they wait with anxious 
impatience. 

As a preliminary, Tchatka intoned a beautiful war-song, 
without paying the slightest attention to the multitude 
which pressed around him. In his quality of medicine man, 
his head-dress was made of swan's-down; his face and his 
breast were painted in figures of different colors ; his lips, 
dyed with vermilion, indicated that he thirsted for blood 
and breathed the spirit of war. When he perceived that 
the whole band was around him, he arose, and with the 
voice of a stentor, addressed the assembly. 

" I dreamed," said he, " friends and warriors, I dreamed! 
During five days and five nights, I was admitted into the 
land of spirits ; livine. I walked among the dead. My eyes 
have witnessed frightful scenes ; my ears have heard fright- 



1 120 HE OBTAINS THE EAR OF THE TRIBE 

f ul moans, sighs, lamentations and bowlings ! Have you 
courage to listen to me ? Can I suffer you to become tbe 
victims of your most cruel enemies? For, know tbat dan- 
ger is near — tbe enemy is not far distant ! " 

An aged man, whose white hairs announced seventy win- 
ters, the grand counselor of the nation, and a juggler, 
replied : 

" A man w'bo loves his tribe conceals nothing from tbe 
people. When danger is at hand, he speaks ; when the 
enemy is in sight, be goes out to meet him. You say you 
have visited tbe region of souls ; I believe in your words. I 
also, in my dreams, have frequently conversed with the 
ghosts of tbe departed. Tchatka, though young, has given 
us extraordinary proofs of his power ; the last hour of Ista- 
gon was terrible, but who dares rise to blame you? You 
only predicted the two events : tbe chief died, and the Wab- 
kon disappeared. I also performed wonders in my youth. 
Now I am old ; but although my limbs begin to be feeble, 
I have yet a clear mind. We will listen to your words with 
attention, and then we will decide on tbe course we ought 
to take. I have spoken." 

Tbe speech of the old man had a favorable effect on the 
whole assembly. Perhaps be was in Tchatka's secret. All 
tbe succeeding orations manifested a feeling of inclination to 
the murderer. Tbe latter, reassured concerning the dispo- 
sitions in regard to him, continued bis recital with firmness 
and showed confidence respecting his future plans. 

" Let those who have ears, hearken to me ! those who have 
not, are free to go! You know me. I am a man of few 
words, but what I advance is true, and tbe events which I 
predict arrive. During five days and five nights my spirit 
was wafted amid the spirits of the dead, especially of our 
relatives and friends — of our friends whose bones are 
whitening on tbe plains, and which the wolves drag into 
their lairs — of our friends who, still unavenged, wander 
up and down, amid swamp and snow and ice, in sterile and 
forsaken deserts, which produce neither fruit, nor root, nor 



AND PROPHESIES SCALPS. 1 121 

animal, to subsist on. It is a place of darkness, where sun- 
light never enters. They are subject to all privations — 
cold, hunger, thirst. We, their friends, their relatives, their 
brethren, are the cause of their long sufferings and fearful 
woes. Their sighs and moans were unsupportable. I trem- 
bled in every limb; my hair stood erect on my head; I be- 
lieved my lot fixed with theirs ; when a kindly spirit touched 
my hand and said : * Tchatka, return to the place which thou 
hast left ; return to thy body, for it is not yet time for thee 
to enter the land of spirits. Return, and thou shalt be the 
bearer of good news to thy nation — the shades of thy de- 
ceased relations shall be avenged, and their deliverance is 
nigh. In thy lodge thou wilt find a drum, painted with fig- 
ures that soon thou shalt learn to know.' At this instant the 
spirit left me. Coming forth from my dream, I found my 
drum, painted as you now behold it. When my body was 
restored to animation, I found that I had not changed 
position. During four days and four nights I had the same 
vision, varied sometimes, but always accompanied with com- 
plaints and reproaches concerning our recent defeats by our 
enemies, the Blackfeet. The fifth night, the manitou ad- 
dressed me anew, and said : ' Tchatka, henceforth the tchant- 
cheega-kaho shall be thy Wah-kon. Arise, follow without 
delay the war-path which leads to the Blackfeet. At the 
source of Milk river thirty lodges of the enemies are en- 
camped. Set out instantly, and after five days' march thou 
shalt reach the camp. On the sixth thou shalt make a fear- 
ful carnage. Every head painted on the drum represents a 
scalp, and the taking of these scalps will appease the manes 
of thy deceased parents and friends. Then only will they 
be enabled to quit the frightful abode where thou beholdest 
them, to enter the beauteous plains where plenty reigns and 
where suffering and privation are unknown. At this mo- 
ment a Blackfoot war-party is prowling around the camp. 
They sought a favorable moment, but not finding it, have 
gone in search of a weaker enemy. Set out, then, without 
-delay; thou shalt find an easy victory; thou shalt find in 
71 



1 122 A WAR PARTY IS FORMED 

the Blackfoot camp only old men, women and children.' 
Such were the words of the manitou, and he disappeared. I 
returned to my body. I recovered my senses. I have told 
you all."^ Thus spoke this extraordinary man. 

Before continuing the strange history of Tchatka and of 
his predictions, it will be necessary to explain that he gained 
over to his cause and person several active young men, the 
best runners in the camp. From them he obtained in secret 
all the news and information that they could gather in their 
long expeditions, either as to the hunt, or as to the proxim- 
ity, number and position of the enemy. The juggler, as 
soon as he is informed, makes his medicine or incantations, 
and then prophecies to the people, who, not suspecting the 
trick, deem all supernatural that comes from the impostor's 
mouth. 

Let us continue : the discourse of Tchatka (for we will so 
style him in our narrative, although he had now received 
that of Wah-kon-Tangka or Big Medicine) had produced 
the effect he desired on all his auditory. The Assiniboins 
entertained a mortal hatred against the Blackfeet; this de- 
testation had been transmitted from father to son, and aug- 
mented by continual aggressions and reprisals. We may 
form an idea of the propensity that Indians have for war. 
from the expression which they use to designate it. They 
call it " The Breath of their Nostrils." Each family num- 
bered some member slain by their dreadful adversary. 
Tchatka's words aroused in their hearts the most violent 
thirst of vengeance. The sassaskwi, or war-whoop, was the 
unanimous response of all the warriors in the camp. They 
lighted bonfires, formed groups for chanting invocations to 

8 Many of our Indian tribes celebrate, toward the close of winter, 
the " Feast of Dreams." The ceremonies are often prolonged to ten 
days or a fortnight. They might rather be termed Bacchanalia or Car- 
nival. Even the Indians call it the " Feast of Madmen." These are 
days of great disorder; — when all they dream or pretend to dream must 
be executed. Dances, songs, and music form the principal ceremonies 
of the feast. — Author's Note. 



AND TCHATKA TAKES COMMAND. II23 

their manitous, and executed the scalp-dance. Then each 
one examined his arms, and the whole scene changed into 
a vast workshop. The soldiers sharpened the double-edged 
knives and daggers, filed anew the lances and arrows, ver- 
milioned the battle-axes and the tomahawks, bridled and 
saddled the horses ; while the women mended and prepared 
the moccasins, the leggins and the sacks of provisions neces- 
sary for the journey. As though it were a grand gala 
occasion, every one daubed his face with vermilion accord- 
ing to his fancy, and arrayed himself in his handsomest 
ornaments. Never had so lively and so unanimous an en- 
thusiasm appeared in the tribe. All relied implicitly on the 
promises of Tchatka, and counted on certain victory. The 
warriors felicitated themselves on having at last found an 
opportunity to efface the shame and opprobrium inflicted on 
the nation, and to avenge the death of their kindred. The 
camp breathed naught but war. The man who had set all 
in motion remained silent and alone. Tranquil in his lodge, 
beside his big drum, he would neither take part in the public 
rejoicings, nor join in the singing and dancing the war- 
dance. 

W'hen the war-party was formed and ready to depart, 
several old men and soldiers were deputed to Tchatka, to 
ask him to take the lead, and conduct the enterprise in per- 
son. He replied : " You have seen that the two events that 
I predicted have drawn upon me the ill will of a great num- 
ber. I am young — I am no warrior — choose an older and 
more experienced man than I to lead the braves to battle. 
I will stay here; leave me to my dreams and my drum." 
The deputies reported his response to their comrades; but 
the latter insisted anew that Tchatka be of the company. 
A new deputation, composed this time of the nearest rela- 
tives of Istagon, sought Tchatka in the name of the whole 
camp, and announced to him that henceforward he should 
be their war-chief, and all promised him respect and obedi- 
ence. After some hesitation, Tchatka surrendered to their 
entreaties, saying : " Friends and relations, I forget the 



1 124 HE SETS OUT WITHOUT ARMS. 

wrongs that I have endured. If my predictions are accom- 
pHshed — if we find the camp of the Blackfeet which I have 
designated — if we tear from the enemy as many scalps as 
are on my drum, will you in future believe in my great 
medicine? If I declare to you that on the second day after 
our departure we shall detect the trail of the war-party that 
has passed near our camp — if we slay on the battle-field the 
great chief of the Blackfeet, and you see him as he is painted 
on my drum, without a scalp and without hands ; — if all 
this be accomplished literally, will you in future respond 
to my call? " They all accepted his conditions. 

Immediately Tchatka arose, intoned his war-song to the 
sound of his drum and to the acclamations of the whole 
tribe. He then joined his band, but without arms, not even 
a knife. He ordered them to fasten his drum on the back 
of a good horse, which he had led beside him by one of his 
faithful spies and runners, by the bridle. 

In order to understand better the issue, it may not be 
irrelevant to say a few words on the Indian chiefs. Each 
nation is divided into different bands or tribes, and each 
tribe counts several villages. Every village has its chief, to 
whom they submit in proportion to the respect or terror 
which his personal qualities inspire. The power of a chief is 
sometimes merely nominal ; sometimes, also, his authority is 
absolute, and his name, as well as his influence, extends be- 
yond the limits of his own village, so that the whole tribe to 
which he belongs acknowledge him as their head. This 
was the case among the Assiniboins in the time of Tchatka. 
Courage, address and an enterprising spirit may elevate 
every warrior to the highest honors, especially if his father 
or an uncle enjoyed the dignity of chief before him, and he 
has a numerous family ready to maintain his authority and 
avenge his quarrels. Yet when the seniors and warriors 
have installed him with all the requisite ceremonies, it must 
not be supposed that he, on this account, arrogates to him- 
self the least exterior appearance of rank or dignity. He is 
too well aware that his rank hangs by a frail thread, which 



THEY BEAT UP THE COUNTRY. 11-25 

may quite easily be broken. He must gain the confidence 
of his uncertain subjects, or retain them by fear. A great 
many f amihes in the village are better off than the chief ; — 
dress better, are richer in arms, horses and other possessions. 
Like the ancient German chiefs, he gains the confidence and 
attachment of his soldiers, first by his bravery, more fre- 
quently by presents, which only serve to impoverish him 
the more. If a chief does not succeed in gaining the love of 
his subjects, they will despise his authority and quit him at 
the slightest opposition on his part ; for the customs of the 
Indians admit no conditions by which they may enforce 
respect from their subjects. 

It rarely happens, among the Western tribes, that a chief 
attains great power, unless he is at the head of a numerous 
family. I have sometimes seen whole villages composed of 
the descendants and relatives of the chief. This kind of 
nomadic community has a certain patriarchal character, and 
is generally the best regulated and the most pacific. The 
chief is less a master than a father, who reigns in a numer- 
ous household by the wish to do all in his power to render 
all happy. It may be said in general of the Indian nations, 
that tribes little united with each other, rent even by discord 
and jealousy, can possess little power and exercise it less. 

Let us return to Tchatka, the grand chief-elect of the prin- 
cipal band of the Assiniboins. He found himself in com- 
mand of 400 warriors. They marched the rest of the night 
and during the whole of the next day, with the greatest pre- 
cautions and in the best order, so as to prevent any surprise. 
Some scouts alone ran over and beat the surrounding coun- 
try, leaving in their passage signals and rods planted in the 
earth, and inclined in such a manner as to indicate the route 
that the little army ought to follow. About evening they 
descried a thick wood on the border of a little stream, and 
there erected, hastily, a kind of parapet, or defense, with the 
dried branches and trunks of trees, and thus passed behind 
it a peaceful night. In the morning they found themselves 
in the midst of an innumerable herd of bisons, and stopped 



1 126 THE APPOINTED DAY COMES 

some instants to renew their stock of provisions.^ Toward 
nightfall a faithful scout returned and communicated se- 
cretly with Tchatka. After marching several miles farther, 
the chief, with the beating of his drum Wah-kon, collected all 
his warriors, and pointing with his finger to a high hill some 
miles distant, he informed them that t4iere they would trace 
the war-party of the Blackfeet, of which he had dreamed 
before leaving the camp. Several horsemen set out without 
delay to reconnoitre the enemy. At the spot indicated they 
found the path tracked by nearly a hundred horses. All the 
warriors redoubled their zeal, ardor and confidence in their 
new chief. The two succeeding days offered nothing very 
singular. They again stopped in the evening of the fifth 
day, without discovering the smallest vestige of proximity 
to the hostile camp they sought. The watchful scouts were 
gone, during the day, in different directions, without bring- 
ing back the least news, except the one who had been in 
secret communication with Tchatka. Several of the most 
ancient of the warriors murmured boldly, saying, " that the 
day predicted by the chief, on which they would surely see 
the enemy, had passed." 

But Tchatka silenced them all, replying to them : " You 
seem still to doubt my words — the time is not past ! Rather 
say, the time is arrived. You appear still young in ex- 
perience — and yet a great many winters are beginning to 
whiten your heads. Where do you think you will find the 

^ I have often spoken of the bisons, improperly called buffaloes, with- 
out mentioning the great use which the Indians make of this interesting 
animal. They supply almost all the necessaries of life. Their skins 
form lodges or dwellings, and serve as clothing, litters, bridles, and 
saddle coverings, vessels to hold water, boats to cross lakes and rivers; 
with the hair, the Indians make their cordage ; with the sinews, bow- 
strings and thread for clothes, as well as glue ; the shoulder-blade is 
spade and pickaxe. The bison is their daily bread, their chief food. 
The dung of the animal, called hois-de-vache, furnishes abundant fuel. 
Last year 100,000 bufTalo skins were sent from the desert to the ware- 
houses of St. Louis. With the proceeds the Indians obtain arms and all 
they need — Author's Note, 



V 



AND THEY DISCOVER THE BLACKFEET. 112/ 

lodges of your enemies? Is it in the open plain, or on the 
summit of an elevation ? With a single glance of the eye we 
perceive all that is there, and is it there you pretend to dis- 
cover them ; and that, too, in a moment in which those who 
should protect their wives and children are afar? The bear 
and the jaguar hide their little ones in their dens, or in the 
depth of impenetrable forests ; the wolf hides them in a hole; 
the goat and the deer cover them with hay. When you hunt 
the deer, do you not peep through the trees and the briars ? 
In the fox and badger hunt, you seek their lairs. Let some 
one go and examine the little point of forest near the large 
rock, at the end of the plain in which we are." 

Instantly, several of the most courageous and the most 
experienced in the stratagems of warfare were sent to the 
discovery. Favored by the night, and with all possible pre- 
cautions, they entered the little wood, and made all their 
observations without being perceived. In the silence of mid- 
night, they reported their news to Tchatka and his com- 
panions — " that they discovered the Blackfoot encamp- 
ment in the place indicated by the chief ; that the lodges were 
occupied solely by old men, women and children ; that they 
could not hear the voices of any youth ; and that all the 
horses were gone." This account filled these barbarous 
hearts with joy. The rest of the night was passed in songs 
and dances to the sound of the great drum, in juggleries and 
invocations to the manitous who had inspired Tchatka dur- 
ing his five days and five nights of dreams, and which had 
conducted his spirit into the regions of souls. 

At the break of day the 400 Assiniboin warriors sur- 
rounded the thirty feeble wigwams of the Blackfeet. The 
cry of war and of vengeance, which they shouted simulta- 
neously, like so many bloodthirsty furies, awakened and 
filled with dreadful fear those unhappy mothers and chil- 
dren left unprotected there. In accordance with their ex- 
pectations, the Assiniboins found few men in the camp ; all 
had gone with the war-party of which I have made mention. 
The small number of Blackfoot youth defended themselves 



1 128 THEY BUTCHER THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN 

with desperate bravery; but they could not long resist so 
many enemies. The combat was short ; the carnage bloody 
and hideous. Old men^ women and children fell an easy 
prey to the cruel Assiniboins. Only two young Blackfeet 
escaped this shocking butchery. An Assiniboin who par- 
ticipated in the combat gave the recital of it to Mr. Denig, 
and declared that with his own hand he had killed fourteen 
children and three women. Mr. Denig asked him if he had 
killed them all with arrows. " Some of them," answered 
he; " but failing in arrows, I had recourse to the tomahawk 
and the dagger." He added, at the same time, that they 
tore from the arms of their mothers and took with them a 
great number of little children, and that on their way, amid 
their songs and the scalp-dances, they amused themselves 
with flaying them alive and running pointed sticks through 
their bodies, in order to roast them alive before the fire. 
The piercing shrieks of these little creatures fell upon the 
ear of these barbarians, amid their inhuman orgies, like the 
sweetest and most delightful melody. All that a pitiless and 
savage heart could invent of torture was put in practice on 
this occasion. The Assiniboins declare that they satiated 
themselves with cruelty, to satisfy the manes of their de- 
ceased parents and kindred, and their implacable and long- 
wished-for vengeance against the greatest of their enemies, 
the Blackfeet. The number of scalps taken surpassed greatly 
the number of heads painted on the drum. 

When returning to their own grounds, at the first en- 
campment which they made, one of the warriors remarked, 
and loud enough for Tchatka's ear, " that the Blackfoot 
chief had neither been seen nor slain." The chief replied: 
" Our work is not yet finished ; we will therefore have an- 
other encounter before repairing to our homes. The Black- 
foot chief shall die! T saw him scalped in my dream: such 
he was painted on the drum by the manitous. His scalp 
shall be taken from him with his own knife." 

A gentle shower fell during the night ; a heavy fog ob- 
scured the sky during the morning, which obliged the whole 



AND TCHATKA SLAYS THE CHIEF. I12(J 

company of warriors to remain together, in order not to lose 
their way. After some hours' march, the sound of a gun 
discharged in front of the hne informed those who brought 
up the rear that an attack had commenced. Every one 
pressed forward to join the combatants. It was a rencontre 
with a troop of twenty or thirty Blackfeet that the fog had 
separated from their companions. Notwithstanding all the 
manceuvres of Tchatka to shelter himself from danger, he 
found himself enveloped in the midst of the fight, ignorant 
which way to turn. The Blackfeet defended themselves 
courageously, but they were forced to yield to the superior 
number of adversaries. Several escaped by means of the 
fog, which covered them from view. 

In the heat of the engagement, Tchatka's horse was killed 
under him; the horseman and his steed rolled in the dust. 
At the same instant a Blackfoot, of lofty stature and pro- 
digious strength, hurled his lance at him, which only grazed 
the head of nis enemy, and struck deep, quivering in the 
earth. Then he attacked him, knife in hand. Tchatka rose 
rapidly from his fall, and, coward as he was, in self-defense 
he displayed skill and strength. He seized the arm of his 
terrible adversary, and used every effort to wrest the knife. 
As the combat in front of the line had ceased, the Assini- 
boins, perceiving the absence of their chief, returned to look 
for him. They found him prostrate, and still combating 
with his powerful enemy. The Blackfoot, now disengaged, 
raised his arm to plunge his knife into the heart of Tchatka, 
when he received the blow of a tomahawk on his skull, 
which stretched him without consciousness beside his van- 
quished adversary. The latter, in his turn, seized the mur- 
derous instrument and finished the Blackfoot. On rising he 
shouted : " Friends, behold the chief of the Blackfeet, for 
his medal reveals and proclaims him! I hold in my hand 
the knife of Mattan Zia (Bear's Foot), whose mighty deeds 
you know, and who has been, during many years, the terror 
of our nation." With the same blood-stained knife he 
scalped him and cut off his two hands, in order to accom- 



1 130 TCHATKA PROCEEDS TO MARRY. 

plish the last point of his great prophecy, which will be 
repeated from father to son among the Assiniboins, to the 
last generation. On this occasion Tchatka received the 
third name, Minayougha, or Knifeholder. 

The whole tribe gave themselves up to a delirium of joy, 
which I could not describe, when the expedition returned 
with so many trophies gained from their most cruel enemies. 
The dances and incantations to the sound of the mysterious 
drum, and the public rejoicing which commonly accompany 
the scalps, were renewed a hundred times during the space 
of a single moon. The glory of Tchatka and his manitous 
was chanted in the whole camp. They announced him, with 
the highest acclamations, the Minayougha and the Wah-kon- 
Tangka par excellence, whom none could resist. He lost 
none of the advantages which he had gained in public opin- 
ion by his profound and cruel stratagem. The whole com- 
mand of the tribe was intrusted to him, and never chief 
among the Assiniboins attracted so much respect and fear. 

Like a true bashaw, or modern Mormon, he selected three 
wives at once, without even consulting them. Two of these 
had been already betrothed to two young and very influential 
warriors. Notwithstanding their protest, the parents be- 
lieved themselves honored in being allied to the family of the 
great chief, by the choice which he made of their daughters, 
and they were conducted to the lodge of Tchtaka. To main- 
tain peace in his new household, and put the discontented 
in good humor, by destroying every hope, he gave orders 
to one of his partisans to poison, in secret, his two competi- 
tors. The better to shield himself from all suspicion, he 
set off in the chase. On his return, they gave him the news 
of their death. He contented himself by saying " that those 
who were capable of contradicting him in the smallest trifles, 
or who presumed to despise his power, were in imminent 
danger of death." 

In this manner the principal accomplice associated with 
Tchatka, for executing his numerous poisonings, fulfilled his 
mandates. We shall say a word concerning the relations in 



HE HAS AN ASSISTANT. II3I 

which these two detestable men stood. The hidden abettor 
was a near relative of the chief. He was about five feet in 
height, and of a robust and vigorous frame. He had lost an 
eye in a quarrel with a young man ; over the other hung a 
great flap of flesh, beginning from the middle of his fore- 
head, and extending as far as his under jaw. He had a flat 
nose, thick lips, a large, gaping mouth, which displayed two 
rows of oval teeth, as white as ivory. He concealed lightly 
his ugly frontispiece under tufts of thick, filthy black hair, 
matted together with gum and resin, mingled with ver- 
milion. For several years, when he visited Fort Union, at 
the mouth of the Yellowstone, he was the terror of all the 
children, for it was impossible to meet a human face more 
frightful and more loathsome. Undoubtedly the marks of 
contempt that he everywhere received, on account of his ex- 
terior, excited in him the inveterate hatred that he bore to 
his race. The artful Tchatka, perceiving same, advantages 
that he might draw from a man of this nature in the execu- 
tion of his designs, had loi>g before taken him as a.ssociate. 
He always treated him with kindness, made him. presents, 
sought his confidence on various occasions and flattered his 
vicious inclinations. He could, in consequence, always rely 
upon this man, when there was occasion to injure his equals, 
and the poison had been administered so adroitly to the two 
young warriors that neither he nor Tchatka were suspected. 
On the contrary, in the opinion of the whole tribe, a new 
gem had been added to the brilliant reputation of Wah-kon- 
Tangka, who could, when distant or near, control the lives 
of his subjects. 



During the first years that Tchatka found himself at the 
head of his tribe, success very generally crowned all his 
undertakings, and his renown passed into all the neigh- 
boring tribes. However, it sometimes happened that his 
warriors were beaten. On such occasions he was always the 
first to take flight, giving for excuse to his comrades that 



1 132 HE PLANS THE CAPTURE OF FORT UNION 

his great medicine (his drum) carried him away in spite of 
himself. It was most prudent to credit his word, for should 
any one be so rash as to doubt, he would be scarcely sure 
of escaping the sudden and mysterious death which seemed 
promptly to attack all his enemies in his own camp. 

In 1830, after having predicted success, he experienced 
his first great defeat, on the part of the Blackfeet, leaving 
on the plain beyond sixty warriors slain and nearly an equal 
number wounded. From this moment dates the commence- 
ment of his fall ; the prestige which hitherto surrounded his 
name and his deeds began to fail. About this time the fur 
company had just provisioned Fort Union at the place where 
it stands to-day. It had been supplied with two years' stock 
of goods for trade with the nations of the Upper Missouri. 

In hopes of repairing, in some manner, the great loss that 
he had just undergone, to. arouse the dejected courage of his 
soldiers, to " cover the dead " — that is to say, to put an end 
to the mourning in the families which had lost near kindred 
in the last battle, Tchatka promised them boldly " that he 
would render them all rich, and would load them with an 
abundance of spoils, so that all the horses of the tribe would 
not be able to carry them. He had been- favored with a 
new dream — a dream which will not deceive them, pro- 
vided they enter into his designs, and that they be faithful in 
the execution of his orders." He had formed the project of 
seizing Fort Union, with a band of 200 select warriors. 
Tchatka presented himself there. He affected a singular 
friendship for the whites. He attempted to make the su- 
perintendent, Mr. M [cKenzie], believe that he was en route, 
with his band, for the country of the Minnetarees [or Gros- 
ventres] of [the] Missouri, their enemies ; that they had 
need of some munitions of war ; and that they intended con- 
tinuing on their way at daybreak. Hospitality was kindly 
accorded to them. The chief played his part so well, that 
the ordinary precaution of disarming guests, and putting 
their weapons under lock and key. was neglected on this 
occasion. The plan that Tchatka had developed to his 



BUT THE PLAN MISCARRIES. II33 

warriors was to retire to the different chambers of the fort, 
and to massacre, during their sleep, at a given signal, all 
those who occupied them. By a happy incident, some days 
previous to this enterprise, all the Canadian employees at 
the fort, to the number of about eighty, had come to Fort 
Union for goods to trade with the Crows and the Blackfeet. 
Notwithstanding this strong reinforcement, the savages 
might have succeeded in their design had not a still more 
favorable happening brought their project to light. An 
Assiniboin had a sister married to one of the merchants 
from the North. Desirous of saving the life of his sister, 
and of sheltering her in the melee which was to take place, 
he communicated to her, under the strictest secrecy, the in- 
tentions of the chief, inviting her to come and pass the night 
in his room, that he might the better protect her. The woman 
promised to follow him ; but went immediately to warn her 
husband against the danger which menaced him as well 
as all the whites at the fort. The husband announced the 
plot to the superintendent and to all the gentlemen in charge. 

The employees, one after the other, were called, without 
arousing the least suspicion. They quitted their apart- 
ments quietly, were armed in the twinkling of an eye, took 
possession of the two bastions and of all the important points 
of the fort. When all the precautions were taken, Tchatka 
and the principal braves of his band were invited to repair 
to the parlor of the commandant, who openly reproached 
them with their black treachery. Giving no heed to their 
protestations, he gave them their choice, either to quit the 
fort without blows, or to be chased from it by the big guns 
(cannon), which were leveled at them. Tchatka accepted 
the former without hesitation, and instantly withdrew, con- 
fused and vexed at having lost so fine an opportunity of 
enriching himself and his tribe, at having failed in his 
promise and in the accomplishment of his pretended dream. 

Tchatka had exhausted all his medicine sack, or provision 
of poisons. His former northern friends had refused to 
furnish him any more. He was absolutely determined on 



1 134 HIS STOCK OF POISON FAILS 

procuring some, for poison was his only means of getting 
rid of those who opposed his ambition or contradicted him 
in his plans. He performed his diabolical deeds with such 
skill and secrecy, that the Indians were firmly persuaded 
that their chief had only to will it, and they would die. 
Hence their abject submission to his every and least caprice. 
This people, formerly free as air, was reduced, during a 
succession of years, to the condition of slaves to the most 
cowardly and pitiless tyrant. 

In the course of the year 1836 Tchatka presented himself 
again at Fort Union, at the head of a band of hunters. They 
went there to sell their peltry — viz., buffalo-robes, beaver 
skins, and the fur of badgers, foxes, bears, deer, goats and 
bighorn; in a word, the fruits of their hunting excursions, 
in exchange for tobacco, ornaments, blankets, guns, am- 
munition, knives, daggers and lances. A large portion of 
the peltry belonged to Tchatka. He offered them to a 
merchant for a very small quantity of tobacco, telling him, 
secretly, " that he was in absolute want of poison, whatever 
it might cost," and begging him to procure a large amount; 
" without which, the charm which surrounded him among 
his people would abandon him hopelessly." His proposition 
was heard with great horror. He only received in reply 
severe representations on the baseness of his conduct and 
on his infamous and frightful proceedings. But these were 
ineffectual on his perverted heart, hardened by an astonish- 
ing succession of unheard-of crimes and atrocities. He left 
the fort with evident tokens of discontent at having been 
frustrated in his attempt. 

During the two years which succeeded, Tchatka con- 
ducted several war-parties, sometimes with success and 
sometimes with reverses. It was perceptible that his years 
were advancing; that his manitous were less faithful than 
formerly; that his predictions were no longer realized; that 
those who criticised his arrangements lived notwithstand- 
ing. Several even dared to defy his power. 



AND TCHATKA S LUCK IS GONE. II35 

In the spring of 1838 [1837], the smallpox (it was not 
well known how) was communicated to the Indian tribes in 
[on the] Upper Missouri. The ravages of this disease en- 
tirely changed the position which Tchatka had hitherto held 
among the Indians. The fine camp of Tchatka, composed 
of 1,200 warriors, was reduced, in this single season, to 
eighty men capable of bearing arms. Other tribes experi- 
enced trials still more severe. This scourge counted more 
than 10,000 victims among the Crows and the Blackfeet; 
the Minnetarees v/ere reduced from 1,000 to 500; the Man- 
dans, the noblest among the races in the upper Missouri, 
counting 600 warriors before the epidemic, were reduced to 
thirty-two, others say to nineteen only! A great number 
committed suicide, in despair; some with their lances 
and other warlike instruments, but the greater part by 
throwing themselves from a high rock which overlooks the 
Missouri. 

In the course of the following year, Tchatka formed the 
design of seizing, by stratagem, the large village of the 
Mandans,^*^ and of taking all the horses and effects which 
they could find in it. 

The village of the Mandans was then permanent, and in 
the neighborhood of the present site of Fort Clark. About 
five miles lower dwelt the Aricaras, new allies and friends 
of the Mandans, who numbered about 500 warriors and had 
escaped the contagion, because they were absent in the hunt- 
ing grounds when the scourge broke out. The Aricaras 

1^ I have mentioned the Mandans, and some of their traditions, in 
several of my letters. Their Indian name is See-pohs-ka-nu-ma-ka-kee, 
which signifies a partridge. They have a remarkable tradition concern- 
ing the deluge. On a high hill existing in their territory, they say that 
the big canoe (the ark) rested. Every year, when the willow buds, 
they celebrate this event by grand festivals and noisy ceremonies. 
Their tradition says that the branch brought back to the great canoe by 
the bird was a willow branch, full of leaves. The bird they allude to 
was the dove, and it is forbidden, in their religious code, to kill it. — 
Author's Note. — [See Catlin, vol. I, p. 158.] 



1 136 HE PLANS TREACHERY ON THE MANDANS 

belonged in ancient times to the Pawnee nation, on the 
Nebraska or Platte river. 

Tchatka was ignorant of the circumstances of the posi- 
tion of the Aricaras, in respect to the Mandans, and had 
scarcely given a thought to the proximity of the two tribes. 
Having collected the sad remnant of his warriors, he com- 
municated to them the design he had formed. " We will 
go," said he, " to offer the calumet of peace to the Mandans, 
They will accept it with joy," added he, " for they are 
feeble, and have the hope of finding in us a protection 
against the Sioux, their most furious enemies. As soon as 
we are admitted in the village, under these appearances of 
friendship, we will scatter ourselves here and there through- 
out their lodges, then, by a simultaneous movement, we will 
fall, with cutlass and dagger, on all that remain of the Man- 
dans. They cannot escape us. All that they possess will 
belong to us." The plan appeared practicable to them. 
Desiring to do something which might ameliorate their con- 
dition, the Assiniboins accepted heartily the proposition of 
their chief. 

The secret of this expedition was confided to no one. 
They passed by Fort Union, so as to procure powder, as 
well as the balls necessary, and a few pounds of tobacco, 
" wherewith to smoke peace." Arrived in sight of the 
village, they stopped and made signals of friendship to the 
Mandans, requesting them to come and join them. Tchatka 
placed himself on a high hill, and beating his drum, he 
chanted his invocations to his manitous. He deputed 
twelve men of his tribe, bearing a little flag and the calumet 
of peace, with orders to smoke it when half way between 
him and the village. Through good fortune for the Man- 
dans, some Aricaras, friends and allies, when returning 
from the chase, had stopped among them. Of all the na- 
tions of the upper Missouri, the Aricaras are considered the 
most deceitful and treacherous. Tchatka, without suspect- 
ing it, found himself taken in his own nets. He came to 
overthrow the little Mandan tribe, and then return laden 



BUT IS HOIST WITH HIS OWN PETARD. II37 

with booty and with scalps. He fell into the snare which he 
had spread for others, and found himself at the mercy of 
worthy competitors. 

After the Assiniboin deputies had smoked the calumet 
with the Mandans, the Aricaras set forth with all haste to 
go and announce to their chiefs this sudden and unforeseen 
reconciliation. The occasion was very favorable. Imme- 
diately the war-whoop resounded throughout the camp of 
the Aricaras. A few moments sufficed to saddle their 
horses and arm themselves. They had evidently a great 
advantage over their adversaries. Hidden by a headland 
of the forest, in the low valley, or bottom of the Missouri, 
they filed silently, and without being perceived, toward the 
village of the Mandans. 

The ceremony of smoking the calumet of peace is ordi- 
narily prolonged during several hours. First takes place a 
friendly interchange of news, a conversation in which each 
party boasts his lofty deeds, or the exploits [coups] he has 
achieved over his enemies, an exposition which is intended 
to excite the admiration of the opposite party. They then 
pass to speeches, in which the points in question are to be 
discussed. If the calumet is accepted, and passes from 
mouth to mouth, the resolutions are ratified and peace is 
concluded. 

They were at this point, and were disposing themselves 
to enter the village together, when suddenly the Aricaras 
presented themselves and shouted their war-cry. At the 
first discharge of guns and arrows, the twelve Assiniboin 
deputies lost their lives. Their scalps were at once taken 
off and their bodies horribly mutilated. It was the affair 
of a moment. About 300 Aricaras, shouting cries of vic- 
tory, mingled with imprecations, directed their steps toward 
the hill, in order to continue the massacre of the Assini- 
boins. At the first signal of attack, Tchatka sprang to his 
horse and fled. The greater part of the Assiniboins, being 
on foot, were easily overtaken by their enemies on horse- 
.back, and soon fell under the blows of the latter. Several 
72 



1138 BARELY ESCAPES WITH HIS LIFE. 

among them, however, defended themselves like braves. 
Notwithstanding their great inferiority in number, they 
killed three Aricaras ; and, although wounded, were so 
happy as to gain the forest, and escape the slaughter. 

After the battle, the corpses of fifty-three Assiniboins re- 
mained stretched on the plain, a prey for vultures and 
wolves. But where is their leader, the great chief of the 
Assiniboins? Where was he during the fight? This fa- 
mous Tchatka, this Wah-kon-Tangka, this Minayougha, this 
hero of the great drum, had been the first to fly on his fleet 
horse. But the Aricaras had fresher animals, and pressed 
on in hot pursuit. As they gained on him they fired re- 
peatedly, and at last killed his horse beneath him. Tchatka 
rose instantly. The forest is before him ; if he can reach it, 
there is yet a shadow of hope. He spares no effort; fear 
lends him wings; old as he is, he takes the start and gains 
the goal before his most impetuous enemies in the pursuit 
can reach him. Some of his own soldiers, witnesses of 
this famous running match, conferred on him the name of 
Ta-to-kah-nan, or the wild goat,^^ the fleetest animal of our 
plains. 

Tchatka rejoined his soldiers in the forest. Thirty only 
had escaped the tomahawk and scalping-knife of the Ari* 
caras ; the greater number were wounded, and some of them 
mortally. They were the feeble remains, the last men of a 
band of 1,200 warViors. Tchatka hung his head, and hardly 
dared to look at them. All his nation had disappeared. 
Two of his sons had fallen in this last combat. His tchant- 
cheega-kabo, or great drum, was in the hands of his ene- 
mies; his favorite horse killed. He had no longer a band, 
upon whom he could exert his influence, and accomplish his 
execrable intentions of poisoning. 

After this defeat, the band of Tchatka having become too 
reduced to form a camp, M^as united to the " Gens du 
nord," or Northern People, as they termed them; that is, to 

11 Fr. Cabri ; antelope. 



ANNOUNCES HIS OWN DEATH. II39 

another great branch of the Assiniboins. From that time 
Tchatka no longer mingled with public affairs. However, 
he always continued to pass for a great medicine man, and 
was sometimes consulted, particularly on great and danger- 
ous occasions. He never ceased, until his death, to inspire 
all who approached him with a certain respect, mingled 
with fear and terror. 

"As we live, so we die," says the proverb. The end of 
this wicked chief was not less remarkable than his whole 
life. What follows I have from an eye-witness. I cite the 
authority of Mr. Denig, an intimate friend and a man of 
high probity, from whom I have received all the informa- 
tion that I have offered you concerning th-e Assiniboins, and 
who resided among them during twenty-two years. 

In the autumn of 1843, the " Northern People " repaired 
to Fort Union to make exchanges in trade with their peltry. 
The first who presented himself at the entrance of the 
fort, to shake hands with Mr. Denig, was old Tchatka. 
" Brother," said he laughing, " I came to the fort to die 
among the whites ! " Mr. Denig attaching no importance 
to these words, the aged man repeated them to him anew. 
"Did you understand what I said? This is my last visit 
to the fort. I shall die here! " Mr. Denig" then., inquired 
concerning the health of Tchatka — whether he felt ill. 
He spoke of it to other Indians, but all assured him that 
Tchatka was in good health as usual ; they added, however, 
that before quitting the village he had predicted to them 
" that his last hour was approaching, and that before the 
next sunset his spirit would be in the region of souls." The 
gentlemen of the fort, informed of this news, ordered 
Tchatka to be called, and questioned him concerning his 
strange declaration. They also feared some artifice on his 
part, and recalled the tricks, deceits and cruelties that he 
had practiced on his tribe, as well as his black treason and 
his odious plots against the occupants of the fort in 1831. 
He declared positively to these gentlemen that he was quite 
well; that he experienced no kind of indisposition. He 



II40 TCHATKA S DEATH AND FUNERAL. 

added : " I repeat to you, my hour is come — my manitous 
call me — I have seen them in my dream — I must depart ! 
Yes, to-morrow my spirit will take flight into the land of 
ghosts ! " In the evening he took a good supper, and slept 
peacefully after, while the other Indians amused themselves 
during the whole night. On the morrow, Tchatka pre- 
sented himself once more at the office of Mr. Denig, and had 
a slight spitting of blood. They tried to make him take 
some remedy, but he refused, saying : " All is useless — 
henceforth life is insupportable to me — I will and I must 
die — I have told you so." A little time after, he left the 
fort with the other Indians, and went to the margin of the 
river. He soon had a second attack, more violent than the 
first. They placed him on a sleigh, intending to transport 
him to the Indian camp, but he died on the way, in the most 
terrible convulsions. It was, according to all appearances, 
the same " grand medicine " which he had administered on 
a great number of occasions to his unfortunate victims, dur- 
ing his sad and long administration as chief, that at last 
terminated his own career. 

The lifeless body of this too famous chief was carried 
in great ceremony into the Indian village, twenty-two miles 
distant from the fort. The whole tribe assisted at his obse- 
quies. The corpse, after being painted, ornamented with 
their richest decorations, and wrapped in a scarlet-colored 
blanket and a beautiful buffalo-robe embroidered with por- 
cupine^^ quills, was at last elevated and fastened between 
two branches of a large tree, amid the tears, cries and la- 
mentations of the multitude. 

Such was the ascendency that his name and deeds exerted 
over the minds of the whole Assiniboin tribe, that the place 
where his mortal remains repose is at the present day an 
object of the highest veneration. The Assiniboins never 
pronounce the name of Tchatka but with respect. They 

12 En pore-epic is the term of the voyageurs. The long quills of the 
animal resemble those of a bird, and are stripped off by the women in 
threads, for embroidering. — Author's Note. 



SOME ASSINIBOIN CUSTOMS. I I4I 

believe that his shade guards the sacred tree; that he has 
power to procure them abundance of buffalo and other ani- 
mals, or to drive the animals from the country. Hence, 
whenever they pass, they offer sacrifices and oblations ; they 
present the calumet to the tutelary spirits and manes of 
Tchatka. He is, according to their calendar, the Wah-kon- 
Tangka par excellence, the greatest man or genius that ever 
visited their nation. 

The Assiniboins never bury their dead. They bind the 
bodies with thongs of rawhide between the branches of 
large trees, and more frequently place them on scaffolds, to 
protect them from the wolves and other wild animals. 
They are higher than a man can reach. The feet are 
always turned to the west. There they are left to decay. 
When the scaffolds or the trees to which the dead are at- 
tached fall, through old age, the relatives bury all the other 
bones, and place the skulls in a circle in the plain, with the 
faces turned toward the centre. They preserve these with 
care, and consider them objects of religious veneration. 
You will generally find there several bison skulls. In the 
centre stands the medicine pole, about twenty feet high, to 
which Wah-kons are hung, to guard and protect the sacred 
deposit. The Indians call the cemetery the village of the 
dead. They visit it at certain seasons of the year, to con- 
verse affectionately with their deceased relatives and 
friends, and always leave some present. 

The Assiniboins give their name to the Assiniboin River, 
the great tributary of the Red River of the North, in the 
English Hudson Bay Company's territory. The word As- 
siniboin signifies stone-cooking people. This tribe had, in 
former times, for want of better utensils, the custom of boil- 
ing their meat in holes dug in the ground and lined with 
raw skins. The water and the meat were put together in 
these holes ; then large red-hot stones were cast in until the 
meat was boiled. This custom is now almost obsolete, 
since they get pots from the whites. The original mode is 
used, however, on great occasions or medicine-feasts. The 



I 142 A FATEFUL BUFFALO. 

Assiniboin language is a dialect of the Dacotah or Sioux. 
They separated from this great nation for a trifle — a quar- 
rel between two women, wives of the great chiefs. A buf- 
falo had been found by these two women ; each of them 
persisted in having the whole heart of the animal ; from 
words they came to fisticuffs; and in their rage they used 
their nails and teeth. The two great chiefs had the folly to 
take part with their better-halves in the quarrel, and sep- 
arated in lasting discontent. From that epoch the two 
tribes have been at war. 

In this last short recital, I furnish your poets with materials 
for a new Iliad. The two great chiefs possessed, without 
doubt, names more sonorous than those of Achilles and 
Agamemnon. I leave you to continue the similitude. 



CHAPTER XL 

louise sighouin, an indian woman of the cceur 
d'alene tribe. 

Sighouin's baptism — Devotes herself to the service of the missionaries 
— Combats the medicine men — Diabolical superstitions — A model 
wife and mother — The communion garment — Charity to the sick — 
Tale of an orphan — Devotion to the cross — Fear of spectres — Re- 
bukes depravity — Death and burial — Mourning of the tribe — Testi- 
mony of her husband. 

Childhood and Baptism. 

XOUISE SIGHOUIN of the tribe of Sklzoumish [Skits- 
uish] or Coeur d'Alenes, daughter of the chief of the 
tribe, was endowed with the noblest qualities of mind and 
heart, which won her the esteem and respect not only of all 
her nation, but also of the neighboring tribes and of all whites 
who had an opportunity of knowing her. A poor and humble 
child, but rich in virtue and exalted in grace, Louise flowered 
in the desert like a lily amid thorns. She was an oasis amid 
a sterile waste; she was a light amid the shades of death. 
Like the poor woman in the gospel, she had sought and 
found the lost treasure, and she carefully preserved it all 
the days of her life to her latest breath. 

Before her baptism, even, she was remarkable for her 
rare modesty and reserve, great gentleness, and a solid 
judgment. Her words were everywhere listened to with 
admiration and pleasure, and her company sought in all 
families. 

In October, 1841, a new era was preparing for her. In 
the course of the missions which I was then giving in the 
upper parts of the Rocky Mountains, I met for the first 
time three families of Coeur d'Alenes, returning from the 

[1143] 



1 144 FIRST KNOWLEDGE OF LOUISE. 

bison hunt on the plains of the upper Missouri. They joined 
my little band, and we traveled together. I found them 
mild, affable, polite in disposition, and above all very eager 
for the word of God. For several consecutive days I con- 
versed with them on different points of faith and on the 
Church. After an instruction on the importance and neces- 
sity of baptism, they earnestly implored me to grant that 
favor to three of their little children. They were the first 
fruits of this tribe. When these families parted with us, 
all testified the most lively gratitude for what they had heard 
and learned with happiness : they assured me that the whole 
tribe would W'illingly accept the beautiful word of the Great 
Spirit, which I had announced to them, and they gave me a 
most pressing invitation to visit them at the earliest mo- 
ment in order to instruct them. 

Six months after, in April, 1842, I proceeded to their 
quarters. My good Cceur d'Alenes, who had been my 
traveling companions, had admirably prepared the way for 
my visit, and infused into all their countrymen an eager 
desire to hear the good tidings of the gospel. In conse- 
quence of the account which they gave, the chiefs had al- 
ready hastened to depute to St. Mary's Mission several 
young men, selected from the most intelligent, in order to 
ask for missionaries to instruct them in the holy truths of 
religion. 

The tidings of my coming soon spread through all the 
country. The Indians were to be seen flocking from all 
sides, through forest and plain, by the rivers and the great 
lake, to meet me and hear the law of God from the very 
lips of a Black-robe. My visit, consequently, had the most 
beneficial results. I baptized all the little children in the 
tribe and a good number of adults, who had hastened with 
holy avidity to come and receive the mustard seed men- 
tioned in the gospel. 

Among these was good Louise Sighouin. Enlightened 
by a special grace, and wishing to turn to the glory of God 
and the good of souls the rank which she occupied and the 



HER BAPTISM AND DEVOTION. II45 

universal esteem she had acquired in the whole tribe, she 
used all her influence to induce a great number of families 
to follow her to the rendezvous, which was the great Lake 
Coeur d'Alene, in order to hear there the good and consol- 
ing word of the gospel. From the very first she showed 
the greatest avidity for it ; at all times was she most assidu- 
ous at the instructions of the missionary. Aided by his 
advice and counsels, she was seen advancing with a sure 
and rapid step, zealously and fervently in the path that was 
later to lead her to Christian perfection. Regenerated in 
the holy waters of baptism, where she received the name of 
Louise, she seemed to have reached the summit of her de- 
sires, and to think only of wearing unsullied the white robe 
which she had received, of keeping well trimmed on earth 
the flaming light that she had held in her hands, and of 
which from that moment she had seemed to realize and com- 
prehend the sublime significance ; in fine, of showing herself 
faithful and grateful to God for the great favors which he 
had deigned to grant to her. 

Soon after this she resolved to devote herself entirely to 
the service of the missionaries who had come to labor in 
the territory of the Coeur d'Alenes. With this view she 
generously renounced her native spot, the guidance of her 
father, the society of her relatives and acquaintances, to be 
with the missionaries at the first, and then at the second 
mission station established in those countries. " I will fol- 
low the Black-robes," she often said, " to the end of the 
world, for fear that death should surprise and strike me far 
from them, and thus deprive me of the help of the holy 
sacraments and the salutary counsels of the Fathers. I wish 
to profit by their presence and their instructions to learn to 
know the Great Spirit well, to serve him faithfully, and to 
love him with all my heart." 

This desire, or rather this ardent thirst to hear the word 
of Eternal Life, never for a moment diminished in Louise. 
Sooner than be wanting to the fidelity of her promises and 
Her pious resolutions, she subjected herself, with unlimited 



1 146 AVIDITY FOR THE WORD OF GOD. 

confidence in God and with a holy ardor, to the severest 
trials and greatest sacrifices. From the time of her con- 
version, during the whole residue of her life, she lived by 
choice and predilection in great poverty and in privations of 
every kind, never seeking to diminish them by the assist- 
ance of others, and without ever letting the slightest mur- 
mur escape her. As St, Paul lays it down, she seemed to 
profess " to know only Jesus Christ, and him crucified." 

The zeal and fervor in the service of God, which she 
manifested immediately after her baptism, were the unfail- 
ing tokens of a predestined soul, filled with extraordinary 
gifts from heaven. These privileged favors were mani- 
fested in all their light by her admirable gentleness, which 
the greatest opposition could not disturb, by her patience 
under every trial, by her truly angelic modesty, by her 
fervent and sustained piety. She seemed, as it were, ab- 
sorbed in prayer, and nothing apparently could then distract 
her thoughts. Such was her avidity, her holy ardor, to hear 
the word of God, that every time a new religious truth broke 
in its effulgence on her mind, a visible joy overspread her 
countenance and her whole person : to her it was the pre- 
cious discovery of a hidden treasure, a living fountain to 
quench her thirst of heavenly truths, a bread of life giving 
her new vigor. Each time she sought to share her happi- 
ness, this bread, this fountain, this treasure, with all who 
were like her hungering for the divine word. 

An ardent and an untiring zeal for the salvation of souls 
seemed ever to occupy her thoughts. She employed all her 
leisure moments in the conversion and instruction of numer- 
ous pagans in her village. Neither the opposition which 
she encountered, nor the obstacles which she met, nor the 
insults v/hich she received, nor the dangers to which she 
exposed herself, naught could divert her from the holy work 
which she had resolved to accomplish. Thus each day was 
marked by some new triumph, by some new increase of the 
number of the children of God or of the catechumens. 



OPPOSES THE MEDICINE MEN. II47 

Louise boldly attacked face to face the most formidable 
and dangerous adversaries of religion: the ministers of 
Satan himself, the sorcerers or jugglers, commonly called 
among the Indians medicine men, who by their impostures 
and diabolical arts always impose on the simple and igno- 
rant. They are the most deadly enemies whom the mission- 
aries encounter, and must ever combat in the bosom of the 
Indian tribes. They never cease by tricks and calumnies 
and lies to throw obstacles in the way of the missionary 
and fetter the progress of religion. The presence of the 
priest is the more odious to them as they know that their 
private interest, their wealth, is at stake, and that their illicit 
gains will vanish and cease on the manifestation of religious 
truths, hide ircc! Hence, their hatred and resentment; 
hence, too, the incessant war they wage on the ministers 
of the true faith, and the persecutions they inc^santly excite 
against them, whenever they can exercise sufficient influence 
over their adherents. And on what a people did they exer- 
cise their influence, before the arrival of our missionaries 
in their country ! 

Father Point, a missionary among the Coeur d'Alenes 
from 1842 to 1846, wrote of them as follows, in a letter 
printed in 1848. These details prove the civilizing tendency 
and power of religion. 

" Not a quarter of a century since, the Coeur d'Alenes 
were so hard-hearted, that- to paint them to the life, the 
common sense of their first visitors found no expression 
more just than the singular name which they still bear; 
minds so limited, that while rendering divine worship to 
all the animals that they knew, they had no idea of the 
true God, nor of their soul, nor consequently of a future 
life; in fine, a race- of men so degraded, that of the natural 
law, there survived among them only two or three very 
obscure notions, which few, very few, attempted to reduce 
to practice. Yet it must be said to the credit of the tribe, 
that there were always in their midst elect souls, who never 
bent the knee to Baal. I know some, who from the very 



1 148 VICTORY OVER SUPERSTITION. 

day when the true God was preached to them, never had 
to reproach themselves with the shadow of an infidehty." 

Among these the most remarkable was our heroine, 
Louise. Rising above all human respect, she always fol- 
lowed the advice of the missionary. As long as the wily 
medicine men existed, she untiringly opposed and exposed 
them. She boldly entered their lodges, and with or without 
their leave, spoke to them of the great truths of religion, 
alone true and divine, exhorting them to follow it, in order 
to avoid the terrible judgments of God, hell with its fright- 
ful torments. She did this with such energetic fortitude, 
and such peremptory arguments, that their obstinacy was 
shaken and the^r obduracy softened. 

Endowed with a heart and a courage above her sex, 
Louise feared neither the sneers nor the threats of these 
deceitful and embittered charlatans. Accordingly, the 
Almighty blessed the efforts of this " valiant woman " of 
the wilderness-, and always crowned them with such ex- 
traordinary success, that in a short time the medicine men 
and their silly juggleries fell into complete contempt. " In 
line," wrote Father Point again, '' from Christmas to Can- 
dlemas, the missionary's fire was kept up with all that 
remained of the ancient ' medicine.' " It was a beautiful 
sight to behold the principal supporters of it, with their own 
hands destroy the wretched instruments which hell had em- 
ployed, to deceive their ignorance or give credit to their 
impostures. And in* the long winter evenings, how many 
birds' feathers, wolves' tails, feet of hinds, ho«ofs of deers, 
bits of cloth, wooden images and other superstitious objects 
were sacrificed! 

Among Louise's chief conquests, they especially mention 
the conversion of Natatken, one of the principal leaders 
of the idolatrous sect. He resisted stubbornly; but at last, 
touched by the good example of all the converts, and above 
all, by the exemplary life of Louise's family, with which he 
was connected by blood, he yielded to the earnest exhorta- 
tions, the sweet and persuasive words of the young girl. 



HEAD CHIEF FORSAKES GAMBLING. II49 

and opening his heart to the grace of our Lord after having 
been long a rebel, he came like a timid lamb to the humble 
fold of the Good Shepherd. Louise devoted herself with 
the utmost care to the instruction of the new catechumen, 
and formed him to a kind of apostolic work in his tribe. 
Till then a great master of Indian sorcery, he listened to 
and followed her wise counsels and instructions with the 
docility of a child; and^ after all the necessary trials, Louise 
led him, humble and contrite, with his wife and children, 
to the feet of the priest, to receive the sacrament of regen- 
eration. Natatken received the name of Isidore. He soon 
became very zealous and very fervent. Endowed with 
native eloquence, he unceasingly exhorted his companions 
to convert and persevere in the faith, and in the holy prac- 
tices which religion imposes on her children. He gave the 
example himself. He remained faithful to the grace of 
the Lord till his death, which was as edifying as consoling. 

Emotestsulem, one of the great chiefs of the tribe, after 
having been baptized under the name of Peter Ignatius, had 
imfortunately relapsed into gambling, the ordinary fore- 
runner of apostasy among the Indians. As soon as Louise 
heard this sad news, although she was at a distance of two 
days' march, she resolved to go to his town and find him 
so as to endeavor to bring him back to his duties. She 
set before his eyes the scandal which his conduct occasioned 
in the tribe, the injustice of his course, and the danger to 
which he exposed his faith. She spoke to him with energy. 
Such was the authority that Louise had acquired by her 
great charity and exemplary life, such was the respect which 
she commanded from all, that the great chief hearkened to 
her with the submission of a child, and went to cast himself 
at the feet of the priest in the tribunal of penance, to repair 
the scandal and be reconciled to God. 

These two incidents, the conversion of Natatken and that 
of Emotestsulem, will surprise all who know how reluctant 
the Indians, and especially their chiefs, are to receive cor- 
rection, especially when it is administered by a woman. 



1 150 PAGAN FAITH OF THE CCEUR d'alI:NE3. 

Let US say a few words of the famous sect of jugglers 
or sorcerers, whom our modern spirituahsts have begun to 
style mediums. This sect is spread over all the Indian tribes 
of both Americas, from the Esquimaux, who inhabit the 
Arctic regions, to the extremity of Patagonia. 

All historians agree in saying, that the most perverse 
and wicked men in all the tribes are the medicine men. 
Before their conversion to the faith, as well as everywhere 
else among the Indian tribes, each Coeur d'Alene had his 
manitou (tutelary spirit or divinity). To this manitou the 
Indian addresses his prayer or supplication, and offers his 
sacrifices, when he is in any danger, sets out for war, or 
goes fishing or hunting, as well as in every other enterprise 
in which he is about to engage, in order to obtain success 
or some extraordinary favor. He believes that he can ask 
everything of his manitou, reasonable or unreasonable, good 
or bad. To obtain favors, he must be able to handle the bow 
and arrow, and although initiation to the manitou is con- 
sidered as the most important act of life, the adept is re- 
quired to submit to ceremonies and practices which are 
generally very difficult and often very painful. The young 
man after making profound incisions on the fleshy parts 
of the body, or after a rigorous fast, is supposed to discover 
in his dreams the form or resemblance under which the 
manitou manifests himself. During his whole life he is 
bound to bear the image or a mark of it ; and on all occa- 
sions he must present his offerings and address his prayers 
to him. His talisman is the feather or beak of a bird, the 
claw or tooth of an animal, a root, a herb, a fruit, a scale, 
a stone, no matter what. He believes that this tutelary 
spirit will protect him against the evil genii, who to injure 
the children of earth excite the winds and waves, lightning, 
thunder and storm. This spirit protects him against the 
attacks of enemies and wild beasts, and in all diseases that 
come upon him. 

If I mention these dangerous and diabolical supersti- 
tions, so profoundly rooted in the mind of the Indian, it is 



ASSIDUITY IN STUDY. II5I 

to display more clearly the courage, firmness, patience and 
perseverance which Louise must have had to oppose them 
successfully and even overcome them. Louise prepared 
herself for the struggle by long prayers and frequent fasts, 
and fortified herself by her humility, by her fidelity to the 
grace of our Lord, who made use of her as a chosen instru- 
ment to crush the monstrous serpent beneath her feet, and 
expel him from her tribe. Nevertheless, the devil never 
sleeps, he is always sowing tares in the good field, as holy 
scripture tells us, he " goeth about like a roaring lion, seek- 
ing whom he may devour." We must always fly to the 
*'' Watch and pray," for we perceive always that some trace 
of the old leaven remains. 

As I have already remarked, Louise manifested an ardent 
desire and an active perseverance in instructing herself in 
all that pertained to the word of God and the holy practices 
of religion. She sought in the first place to enrich her fair 
soul with heavenly truths, and then with admirable zeal and 
charity she endeavored to relieve the missionary in his labo- 
rious toils and the continual fatigue he encountered, especi- 
ally in instructing old people and children. Entirely 
wrapped up in her noble calling, she would go several times 
in the day to the priest, to set forth her doubts and ask an 
explanation of them, and light on some points either in the 
prayers or in the catechism, which she wished to fathom 
more deeply. 

This constant assiduity and application to the study of 
heavenly things, soon rendered her capable of being the head 
teacher of the catechism, and enabled her to instruct the 
under teachers with great fruit. At every explanation and 
development which she received from the missionary, she 
would say ingenuously, " I thank the Great Spirit for the 
beautiful alms which he has deigned to bestow on me," 
and she felt herself bound to impart her knowledge to all 
the catechumens, to make them partakers in her happiness. 
She set the example to those good mothers, of whom Father 
Point speaks in his letter, who, not satisfied with giving their 



1 1 52 CARE OF HER OWN HOUSE. 

children the food which they refused tliemselves, spent long 
evenings in breaking, not only to parents and friends, but 
also to strangers, eager to hear them, the bread of the divine 
word, gathered by them during the day. The missionary, 
sometimes present at the pious meetings of these good 
women, admired the spirit of God which animated them, 
and applied to them the promise of the prophet, " The Lord 
shall give the Word to them that preach good tidings with 
great power." — Ps. Ixvii. 12. The patience and constancy 
which Louise displayed in the office of catechist, deserve 
the highest eulogy; the salvation of souls was a work of 
predilection to her; the hours of the day seemed too short 
to satisfy her zeal, and she often consumed a good part of 
the night instructing her neighbor. 

Amid all her occupations and exertions for the good of 
others, Louise never neglected the care and ordering of 
her own house. Her prayers, her good works, her words and 
her good example had drawn down the blessings of heaven 
on her poor and humble abode, and this model cabin, great 
by the virtues which it enshrined, shone with radiance amid 
all the other Indian lodges. Louise had comprehended at once 
and fully the whole extent of the duties of a good wife 
and mother, duties till then almost unknown to the Indians, 
among whom, from the moment of leaving childhood, each 
one becomes absolute master of himself and his actions. By 
her conduct beyond reproach, by her motherly vigilance 
over the behavior of her children, by the simple and persua- 
sive gentleness with which she treated them on all occasions, 
Louise had inspired them with the most profound respect 
and entire confidence, and had so closely bound to her their 
tender hearts, that a desire manifested, or a single word 
from the lips of their good mother, was an absolute order, 
a law for them, which they accomplished in all its require- 
ments with eagerness and joy. 

Louise attended the divine offices with the greatest exact- 
ness. Although in delicate health and often sick, she never 



ASSISTS THE CHILDREN. 1 1 53 

failed to be present at all the religious ceremonies in use in 
the church; she attended mass, morning and evening pray- 
ers, the expositions and benedictions of the blessed sacra- 
ment, and all the other practices of devotion. Her modesty, 
her recollectedness, and her fervent prayers, always served 
as an edifying example to all present. She seemed at the 
summit of her happiness and joy, every time that she was 
permitted to approach the holy table; her preparation and 
thanksgiving often took whole days. 

In catechising and in church Louise fulfilled all the duties 
of parents to their children. Sitting in their midst, she 
watched over their conduct and their innocent bearing. 
Rarely was she severe; when there was anything to repre- 
hend, the correction was always made with a mother's ten- 
derness and goodness, which won her the hearts not only 
of the children but also of their parents. She merited and 
received from all the tribe the beautiful name of good 
grandmother. Her counsels and corrections were always 
and by all received with respect, submission and gratitude; 
and the happy results were seen in a complete and blessed 
change of the whole tribe, thus augmenting joy and happi- 
ness in all hearts. 

Louise, although the best instructed in the truths of 
religion, nevertheless came regularly to attend the catechet- 
ical instructions which the missionary was accustomed to 
give the children daily. She could be seen sitting or stand- 
ing outside the half-opened door, regardless of the weather, 
heat or cold, rain or snow. She wished to gather all the 
important points of each instruction for her own spiritual 
good and that of others. 

When there was question of admitting an old man, a 
boy or girl to partake of the sacraments, she prepared and 
instructed them for several days in her lodge, impressing 
them with the high importance of the grace which they 
were going to receive, and the happiness which they were 
going to enjoy. She then aided them with the greatest care 
73 



1 1 54 INTRODUCES PIOUS PRACTICES, 

to examine their conscience. And that nothing should be 
lacking in the preparation, she took them one by one to the 

tribunal of penance, telling them : " Here, kneel at 

the feet of the Father, who has the power to reconcile you 
to the Great Spirit. Say the Coniitcor with a great sorrow 
for your offenses. Confess your sins with profound humil- 
ity." She would then withdraw to a short distance to wait 
for them, and then lead them to the foot of the altar to 
receive the spotless Lamb, and be nourished with the bread 
of angels. Louise did not leave them till they had fin- 
ished their thanksgiving. She wished to supply in some 
sort the lack of memory or capacity, when the parties 
seemed to need it. For fear of being guilty of any grave 
omission, the chiefs themselves, and many of the most es- 
teemed men in the nation, went regularly to have her assist- 
ance in preparing for a worthy reception of the blessed 
sacrament. 

Among other pious practices introduced by Louise in 
the mission, we are indebted to her for the following. 
On solemn days, the night previous to the general com- 
munion, hymns are sung alternately, sometimes in one lodge 
and sometimes in another, with charming harmony. These 
pious canticles have reference to the approaching day, which 
they are preparing to celebrate worthily. On the eve of 
the communion, the Indians arrange their exterior, and 
for most this is no small affair. They wash, clean, and mend 
the clothes or rags which scarcely cover them ; they go and 
bathe in a retired part of the river, even on Christmas eve 
and when the water is freezing. Each one keeps in his 
leather bag, which serves as a wardrobe (for they have no 
chests or drawers), a piece of linen or white cotton, or a 
colored handkerchief; the women and girls wear them as 
a veil, the men as a cravat. Their toilet as you see is very 
simple and very poor ; but each does his best, even outwardly, 
to come worthily and with respect to the table of the Lord. 



BECOMES AN EXCELLENT NURSE. II55 

Among all the virtues which distinguished Louise, and 
which she cherished and practised with so much zeal and 
ardor, shone forth especially her Christian charity to the 
sick and dying. Father Gazzoli, who has for many years 
directed that mission, assured me that during Louise's life, 
he never went to the bedside of a sick or dying person, with- 
out there meeting the Lidian " Good Samaritan." She de- 
voted herself to the continual service of the sick, and tended 
them with as much care, patience and interest as she could 
have bestowed on her own children and parents. While re- 
lieving their bodies with admirable and truly maternal char- 
ity, she never failed to think of their soul, and devoted her- 
self with still greater zeal and fervor to heal its wounds, 
especially when the state of the patient's conscience seemed 
most to require it. She suggested pious thoughts, and re- 
cited with them acts of faith, hope, charity, contrition, 
resignation and submission to the holy will of our Lord; 
she constantly exhorted them to have patience in their pain- 
ful trials, in imitation of our Lord, who died on the cross 
to save us; in one word she faithfully served her God in 
the person of her neighbor, conformable to these words of 
the gospel : "Amen, I say to you, as long as you did it 
to one of these, my least brethren, you did it to me." — 
Matt. XXV. 40. With no other recompense than what she 
expected from her divine Master, she fulfilled all the duties 
of an excellent nurse. This service she performed with as 
much exactness and devotedness, as an exemplary Sister of 
Mercy or Daughter of St. Vincent de Paul could have 
shown. On many occasions when she wished to exercise 
her voluntary mission of charity, she had to consent to 
great sacrifices, and almost heroic efforts over herself, to 
overcome her natural repugnance. Father Gazzoli relates 
that one day, according to his custom in certain circum- 
stances, he invited Louise to accompany him to a patient, 
to aid him in the care which a most loathsome sore required. 
Such was the sight of the corrupt mass, that for the first time 



I 156 TRIUMPHS OVER HERSELF. 

the repugnance of the courageous woman overcame her; 
she durst not touch it or do the least to dress it. The mis- 
sionary perceived it, and opened the abscess himself. Some 
moments after, Louise expressed the most lively regret at 
having yielded to her feelings, and told him with humility 
and respect: " I am greatly ashamed, Father; my weak- 
ness got the better of me. I admire your charity. I lacked 
courage to imitate it." She atoned for what she had re- 
proached herself with as a fault, and immediately began to 
nurse the sick man, and dressed his sore with the greatest 
assiduity for about two months, till he recovered. It was 
the first time, added Father Gazzoli, that good Sighouin 
shrunk from a charitable desire which he expressed, and it 
was the last. In the sequel and down to her death, under 
every circumstance, she continued to fulfill, with prompt- 
ness and fidelity, the requests made by her pious director, 
and made by him to offer her occasions of victory and merit 
before God. She had completely triumphed over herself, 
and in her humble constancy at the bedside of the sick, the 
most loathsome cases seemed to her the most agreeable and 
attractive. 

Amid Louise's noble acts of charity and patience, may 
be cited the care she took for several years of a poor child 
on whom all human miseries of mind and body seemed to 
accumulate. An orphan, destitute of everything, crippled, 
blind, and what is worse, stubborn and ungovernable, such 
was Louise's adoptive child. Such a child was doubtless 
a rich windfall to exercise a saint. One day she told the 
missionary that she could not manage Ignatius (that was 
the orphan's name), and that he would not mind her in 
the least. The Father, who supplied his food and clothing, 
thought that by threatening to make him fast, he might be 
reduced to submission ; but when it was tried, Ignatius rolled 
up his shirt-sleeve, and showing his arm, said : " Look 
there, I am fat. I can fast." He was then eleven or twelve 
years old. Such was the disposition of the child on whom 



A SEVERE AND PAINFUL TRIAL. II57 

Louise lavished the care of a tender mother for several 
years, till God recalled the poor boy from this world. 

Louise had a niece named Agatha, the only daughter of 
one of her sisters. She was, and justly so, her child of pre- 
dilection. Pious, and ever attentive to her aunt's good ad- 
vice and wise lessons, Agatha verified her name by her ex- 
emplary conduct and by her example amid her young com- 
panions. She was well instructed in her catechism, and 
was preparing for her first communion; she had already 
presented herself at the tribunal of penance to make a good 
confession, when an attack of apoplexy deprived her of 
speech. She survived only one day, suffermg greatly, but 
with admirable patience. Her death was a severe and 
painful trial to the heart of Louise, who long after still kept 
her loss fresh in her mind, yet she submitted perfectly to 
the divine will, and convinced that her niece had gone to 
a better world, she overcame her grief, and shed not a tear ; 
on the contrary, she never ceased thanking the Almighty for 
the favor he had bestowed upon Agatha, by snatching her 
away from the dangers of earth to set her in his heavenly 
mansion. 

Louise lived in great poverty; yet the slightest murmur 
never escaped her to show her wants or her suffering. 
When the missionary was able to give her any charity, he 
had first to ask her whether she was not in some need, either 
of food or clothing. She regarded as nothing the privations 
and voluntary poverty which she imposed on herself through 
love for her divine Lord, and for her neighbor. Her lodge, 
formed of flag-mats, stood beside the house of prayer, or 
church, and near the poor cabin of the missionaries. There 
in happiness and contentment Louise found all her treasure, 
all her joy, and the complete fulfillment of her pious desire. 
There she unceasingly contemplated the home of eternal 
rest, which the Lord has prepared for his elect in heaven, 
and to which he alludes in the words : " My kingdom is 
not of this world." — John, xviii. 36. Those which the Acts 
of the Apostles add : " In very deed, I perceive that God is 



1 1 58 POVERTY WITH ZEAL AND CHARITY. 

not a respecter of persons. But in every nature, he that 
feareth him, and worketh justice is acceptable to him " 
(Acts, X. 34), seemed perfectly realized in poor Louise. 
From her conversion she faithfully followed the career 
which Providence had traced for her. Poverty with zeal 
and charity were her joy. Amid the poor of her tribe she 
may be said to have been the poorest, and always blessed 
God for her lot. Thus it is, that as we read in St. Mark, 
the " last shall be first." Sighouin fully comprehended this 
maxim, and she is at once a striking and consoling example 
of it. How glorious and beautiful is the society of fervent 
Christians, in all ranks and conditions of life! By its 
heavenly doctrines, benevolence admirably tempers author- 
ity; justice and charity reign in all hearts; the great hum- 
bles himself without derogating from his dignity, and the 
poor, the lowly, even the poor Indian woman, not only does 
not fall into contempt, but is elevated by the consideration 
of a common origin, the hope of a common end, and the 
distribution of the same means; in the sight of heaven all 
are equal, for all are children of one same Father, and 
called, though in different ways, to the possession of a com- 
mon heritage. 

Behold, then, the humble Louise, a poor Indian woman, an 
obedient, charitable and submissive Christian. Zeal for 
souls, zeal for the house of God devours her. Endowed 
with heroic constancy and courage, she surmounts all ob- 
stacles that oppose her generous designs. Where does she 
find her courage, her strength, her consolation, her happi- 
ness, if not in the love of her God, in an entire confidence 
in him, and a holy difference in regard to all else ? All her 
actions seem to express constantly these words : " God 
alone for me! * * * God alone to-day and forever; 
* * * God alone for all eternity! " She devoted her- 
self entirely to the cause of God ; her labors, her troubles, 
her pain, will receive their reward. " She hath chosen the 
better part, which shall not be taken away from her." — 
Luke X. 42. 



DEVOTION TO THE HOLY CROSS. II59 

Louise always manifested a great devotion to the holy 
cross. In the sowing season, in order to draw down God's 
blessing on the crop, she each year presented to her spiritual 
director the seed-corn, to ask him to bless it. She then 
went through the great harvest field and the fields of the 
Indians, digging up a little piece of ground in the shape of 
a cross to plant her grain in. During the whole time that 
she maintained this practice, it was every year observed, 
that the crop was very abundant and very fine, even when 
the neighbors all around lost their grain. She had learned 
that heaven and earth had been disunited, and that the 
cross had reconciled them ; that no one can enter into heaven 
except by the way of the cross. She sowed her grain in 
the form of a cross, having implicit confidence that our 
Lord, who died on the cross, would fructify it. The cross 
was her refuge on earth; it was her strength and consola- 
tion till death. We may here repeat those beautiful words 
of the venerable Bishop Challoner : " Jesus is delivered 
into the hands of his executioners ; his suffering, his ig- 
nominy begins ; he dies on an infamous gibbet ; and he is no 
sooner lifted up, than he drazvs all things to him. The cross 
dispels the darkness that covered the face of the earth : it 
unveils the great mystery of life and death, of God, of our 
duties and our eternal destiny; in a word, in all that till 
then had been hidden from the wisest of pagan antiquity. 
The cross teaches us to suffer for the cause of justice, to 
bear wrongs for the glory of God, to die for his love. How 
admirably has the gospel been styled by St. Paul the word 
of the cross." 

Louise had a tender devotion to the most blessed sacra- 
ment of the altar. That great mystery of the love of God, 
who deigns to lower, and as it were, annihilate himself, and 
" whose delight is to be with the children of men " (Prov., 
viii. 31), seemed to touch the good Indian woman most 
profoundly, and to fill her heart with the liveliest gratitude. 
Every morning she attended the holy sacrifice of the mass 
with the greatest recollectedness. For a long time she 



Il6o COMPOSES SHORT PRAYERS. 

went regularly to the missionary's cabin to ask explanations 
and instructions on the holy sacrament of the altar, with- 
out his supposing it to result from any motive but a desire 
of instruction. It was not till after the death of Louise, 
that he learned that when she had fully comprehended the 
meaning and seen the explanation of the principal cere- 
monies and rubrics in the celebration of the most holy mys- 
tery, she composed short prayers, full of unction, like those 
found in our best prayer-books. I must remark here that 
this practice was then as yet unknown by the catechumens 
among the Indians, for the missionaries, especially in the 
first years that followed the establishment of the mission, 
were unable to go beyond the most elementary instructions 
on the points of doctrine of the most absolute necessity. 
But the zeal of Louise was by no means limited to her own 
soul; she had at the same time in view the spiritual good 
and advancement of her neighbor by all these holy practices. 
Gifted with an excellent memory, she communicated with 
care and eagerness to others all the instructions that she had 
received on the holy sacrifice of the mass. The beautiful 
and admirable little prayers of which I have just spoken 
were in harmony with the different parts of the mass, per- 
fectly conformable to the spirit of the Church, full of sense 
and piety ; they seemed dictated under the inspiration of 
the divine Master. We may say with all assurance and 
truth, that this useful work of Louise was far beyond the 
ordinary capacity and reach of a poor Indian. 

Among the holy practices in which Louise displayed 
most zeal, fervor and charity, and which always seemed 
dearest to her, all remarked her great devotion for the 
souls in purgatory. All her prayers, all her actions, all the 
merits that she might obtain from God by her pious and 
active life, were directed to this noble intention. She suc- 
ceeded, too, after persevering efforts, in making the whole 
tribe relish and adopt her beautiful devotion. Every day, 
even during the rigorous season of winter, she proceeded 
to the cemetery to spend some time there in prayer. When 



DISTURBED BY PHANTOMS. I161 

the household occupations of her poor family prevented her 
visiting it by day, she went there late in the evening, or 
even during the night. This was frequently the case. It 
seems that hell endeavored to raise obstacles to prayers so 
agreeable to heaven, and, at the same time, deprive the souls 
in purgatory of so many suffrages, and good Sighouin of all 
the merits she daily laid up for herself. The fact was this. 
Before relating it, I must observe that, in the whole tribe, 
Louise was regarded as a brave and nowise timid woman, 
and that on many occasions she gave unequivocal proofs 
of her natural courage. And yet it several times happened 
that when at prayer in the cemetery, she would be seized 
with affright, at the sight of fantastic figures that she 
seemed to behold before her. Once the spectres appeared 
in so frightful a manner, that, trembling with fear, she 
ran back to the camp with loud cries. The men imme- 
diately all flew to arms, as though a powerful enemy had 
assailed the village. All were convinced that the alarm 
given by Louise must have a real foundation. Father 
Gazzoli, who relates the facts, had much trouble in restoring 
order and tranquillity in the camp ; he succeeded, however, 
by promising to act as sentinel all night over his dear In- 
dians. The next day he recommended Louise not to be 
disturbed in her prayers by the influence of such fears ; and 
in case the phantoms returned again to molest her, to come, 
even though it were midnight, and tell him, but no one 
else, so as to create a panic in the village. On this oc- 
casion as ever, she showed her obedience and submission ; 
and although the frightful visions returned from time to 
time, her victory over the demon was complete. From that 
time for several years, and down to the period of her last 
illness, she calmly continued her pious visits to the ceme- 
tery, exempt from all trouble and all fear. One day the 
missionary, in an instruction, advised his flock to remember 
the souls in purgatory, especially after communion. Louise 
received the recommendation as an advice from heaven, 
and the first time she approached the holy table, she was 



Il62 LIMITED INTELLIGENCE OF INDIANS. 

seen, after receiving the blessed sacrament, proceeding to 
the cemetery at the head of all the communicants, where 
they spent a considerable time in prayer for the relief of the 
faithful departed. Her example greatly increased this 
beautiful practice of Christian life; the greatest part of the 
Indians were soon seen following their pious guide to the 
place of rest; at last all went. This holy custom is still 
observed. 

Our poor Indians have a very limited intelligence; their 
progress in religious instruction is very slow, retarded 
especially by the difficulty which the missionaries encounter 
in the language of the Indians, which is very rich to ex- 
press whatever is material ; but excessively poor in all that 
relates to the explanation of spiritual things. Hence it 
happens that many of these poor people have not yet that 
salutary horror and shame for sin, which are so powerful a 
means to restrain men's passions. Thus a woman who has 
been unfaithful or rebellious to her husband will receive 
pardon the moment she shows sorrow for it. A man who 
has grossly insulted another, or done him a grievous wrong, 
will go and smoke the calumet of peace with the injured 
person, or enter his lodge or give him an equivalent for the 
wrong committed. These reparations are generally re- 
ceived and considered sufficient, and the offender recovers 
the good graces of the injured party. " The wound is 
covered," as they express it ; that is to say, "All is for- 
gotten." When any one commits a fault, secret or noto- 
rious, he goes of his own accord to present himself to the 
chief and ask to be whipped. " The whip has covered his 
fault," no one can then speak of it. The missionary has 
sometimes to instruct them in the confessional on this point ; 
for the penitent would come and not accuse himself of 
grievous faults known to the whole tribe. In vain will the 
confessor say : " You have been guilty of such or such 
a sin, you must accuse yourself of it before God." The 
penitent will reply : " Pardon. Father, I went to the chief, 
and the sin you mention was covered by the whip ; the 



SPIRIT OF PROFOUND HUMILITY. . II63 

whip has covered my fault." I mention this usage of the 
Coeur d'Alenes, because our good Louise sometimes pre- 
sented herself to the chief to be publicly whipped. But here 
the case was different ; she seized the opportunity in a spirit 
of profound humility, always regarding herself as a poor 
and enormous sinner, and at the same time from a desire to 
satisfy her devotion to imitate our Lord, by submitting to 
the cruel flagellation. Louise's faults were only of the 
nature of those of which the Book of Proverbs speaks, when 
he says that the " just man shall fall seven times and shall 
rise again." — Prov. xxiv. i6. Nevertheless, what she 
called her faults caused her such regret and confusion, that 
the missionary often found her bathed in tears. At the 
least fault, her contrition was so lively, and at the same 
time her veneration for the Lodge of the Lord (the church) 
so profound, and her respect for the cabin of the priest so 
sincere, that she durst not enter either till she had ap- 
proached the tribunal of penance. We admired in her, too, 
that faith and that love of God, which, in the real sins and 
faults of others, made her share in their sorrow and shame. 
A certain member of the tribe, blinded by passion, in 
spite of all the obstacles in the way of his illicit desires, 
had resolved to unite himself with a near relative of 
Louise's, and who was at the same time nearly related to 
himself. Among the Indians there is no power to prevent 
evil in such a case but argument ; when this fails there is 
no means to which they can have recourse. The wretched 
man, deaf to all the advice of the chief and of his own 
friends, obdurately closing his ears to the exhortations of 
the missionary, had united himself to the object of his de- 
sires. The traits which I have already given of the pure 
soul of Louise, will speak sufficiently the grief and bitter- 
ness which this depravity in a near kinswoman must have 
caused her. She had already employed all the means of 
persuasion in her power, to prevent the union of these two 
miserable people. They had turned a deaf ear to her whole- 
some advice and counsel, as to all that others had offered. 



1 1 64 MORAL COURAGE OF LOUISE. 

One day the pastor showed himself more than ordinarily 
troubled and afflicted at the depravity and obstinacy of his 
two lost sheep, and at the great scandal they gave the whole 
tribe. He said publicly and vehemently, " We must put 
a stop to this at once. Let each one then implore the divine 
assistance, and beg the Almighty, that with as little delay 
as possible, he will aid to remove this great scandal from 
among us." Louise was present and heard the missionary's 
words. She was ignorant of the guilty man's threats, for 
he had resolved to repel by brute force and by arms, who- 
ever would dare to prevent his retaining the object of his 
guilty love. Invested with courage above her strength, 
like the strong woman in the scriptures, and full of con- 
fidence in God, brave Sighouin immediately started from 
the village over woods and mountains, and marched for 
several days to the spot where the two culprits had hidden 
themselves to hide their crime and infamy. She entered 
the lodge to the great surprise of the guilty pair. One 
rushed at her, whip in hand, the other threatened to strike 
her; but Louise addressed them on the misfortune of their 
state, in words so resolute, so energetic, so overwhelming, 
that they stood silent and confounded before her, and with- 
out difficulty she rescued from his hands the woman whom 
sin alone had made his partner. She took her to her own 
house, and kept her there till a dispensation was obtained, 
on which they were lawfully married. The charity and 
zeal of Louise aided from on high, thus came forth triumph- 
ant from a struggle as heroic as it was delicate. 

In another and nearly similar case, a wretched man drew 
his dagger to strike Louise, while loading her with insulting 
words and terrible threats ; but the Christian heroine, with a 
calm and serene brow, portrayed to him the enormity of his 
conduct, his ingratitude to God, the scandal given to his 
neighbor. " I have come here," she said, " for the honor of 
God, and the salvation of your soul ; I fear nothing." Here 
below, life is but a short passage. " The world passeth 
away," says the beloved Apostle, " and the concupiscence 



CARE OF YOUNG GIRLS. II65 

thereof. But he that doth the will of God abideth forever." 
— I John, ii. 17. Louise fully comprehended these maxims, 
she never shrunk from any danger when the glory of the 
Almighty was concerned. 

Louise paid special attention to the young girls of her 
tribe. She took care of their religious instruction, and 
diligently watched over their behavior. In the absence of 
their parents she made them all lodge in her cabin of mats, 
and took the entire direction of them. To understand this, 
it will be necessary to make a little digression. An Indian 
lodge of mats is a pretty commodious, though not very 
attractive abode. It assumes all dimensions, according to 
the number of persons to be accommodated : a few more 
poles and mats are added, and the arrangements are com- 
pleted. Thus Louise was able to make room for a consider- 
able number of beds for the children, for each one has her 
blanket or buffalo robe. Their tables are the bare ground. 
Their dishes, plates and spoons, are pieces of bark or wood ; 
their fingers serve for forks and their teeth for knives. It 
takes an Indian, at most, half an hour to change a lodge 
into a large hostelry, and furnish it to correspond. Thus 
Louise was able to see herself at the head of a numerous 
household who were her delight. How beautiful it was to 
contemplate the good Indian grandmother, tenderly loved 
and respected, amid her cherished children ! 



We may apply to Louise the beautiful words of the 
scriptures: " Being made perfect in a short space he 
fulfilled a long time." — Wisdom, iv. 13. After her vo- 
cation to the faith, she did not indeed live long years on the 
earth, but her years were full of merits before God. " She 
walked in the ways of the Lord with a rapid step." In 
all that she did, she constantly kept her eyes fixed on her 
heavenly home, awaiting those eternal goods of which 
the great Apostle speaks; she made noble efforts, and em- 



Il66 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

ployed all her moments to embellish and enrich her soul 
with all Christian virtues. By her regular attendance at 
the instructions, by her constant spirit of prayer, by the 
practice of every species of good work, she increased more 
and more in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and sweet 
Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

Her last illness left her the use of all her faculties, which 
she preserved to her last breath. She thus prepared for 
death with all the tranquillity of the just. Her prayer was 
fervent and uninterrupted ; her patience superior to every 
trial. Entirely taken up with the salvation of her soul, she 
seemed utterly unmindful of the sufferings of her body ; she 
sought no relief, and never betrayed the least sign of im- 
patience ; she often tenderly kissed the cross, which she 
always carried around her neck. The desire of the 
Apostle "to be dissolved and to be with Christ " (Phil. i. 
2},), seemed to be during her illness her only motto and 
her only preoccupation. 

"Always at the bedside of her who had so greatly aided 
me in my visits to the sick, and who had always served as 
my interpreter, and given me her aid with the ignorant — 
the spiritual directress, the guardian angel of her whole 
tribe — I had the happiness to witness this touching scene," 
says Father Gazzoli, the spiritual director of Louise. " Her 
virtues had shone like a brilliant torch amid the Indians; 
she had never sullied the white robe of innocence which 
she had received in baptism. I witnessed the great power 
of the cross, which displayed in the desert virtues till then 
unknown ; which produces wherever it is planted so many 
holy martyrs, so many confessors, so many virgins and 
illustrious penitents. Here, amid these isolated mountains, 
appears a poor Indian woman, whose unshaken faith and 
firm hope render her superior to trials of every kind. I 
desired to relieve her in some way; she in obedience grate- 
fully received what I offered, yet without seeking or asking 
the slightest relief or the slightest mitigation of her pains, 
which she accepted as so many special graces of our Lord." 



TAKES HER FAREWELL. Il6/ 

Louise received from the hands of the minister of God 
all the consolations of the Church, the holy viaticum espe- 
cially, with truly angelic piety and consolation. She 
thanked our Lord in all the humility of her soul, for the 
great favors which he deigned to grant her in that last 
hour of her earthly anguish, committing to his holy Provi- 
dence her crippled husband and beloved children. She 
then made an effort to rally her little remaining strength, 
to thank her spiritual director for all the care which he 
constantly lavished on her, and especially in his instruc- 
tions; she especially commended to his spiritual care the 
charge of all her family. The words which Louise ad- 
dressed to her husband and her grieving children were con- 
soling, full of trust in God's divine and paternal goodness, 
full of resignation to his holy will, and of firm hope to be 
one day all united again in their heavenly home. At last 
she turned to those who surrounded her deathbed, happy 
witnesses of all these edifying scenes, which the just dying 
in the Lord present to the living, and which realize the 
words of holy writ : " Blessed are the dead who die in 
the Lord." — Apoc. xiv. 13. She begged those around to 
intone in their language the touching hymn in honor of the 
souls in purgatory, and accompanied it herself in a feeble 
and dying voice scarcely perceptible. They were still sing- 
ing it when Louise, unperceived by any, slept calmly in 
our Lord. 

Her beautiful soul had taken its heavenward flight. She 
happily left the place of trouble, misery and death, to pass 
to an abode of glory and peace, the delights whereof are 
eternal. In her were fulfilled what St. James teaches us 
when he says : " Blessed is the man that endureth tempta- 
tion, for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the 
crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love 
him." — St. James, i. 12. In the pleasing hope that hence- 
forth the eternal crown is her lot, with the deep-seated trust 
in her power with God, we addressed to her in heaven our 
poor prayers : " O Louise, intercede with God for him who 



Il68 ADDRESS BY FATHER GAZZOLI. 

conferred baptism on you, and was your spiritual director; 
for your husband, for your children, and for all your dear 
Skizoumish. Obtain for us all the grace of perseverance 
in the holy service of our Lord. Amen." 

Father Gazzoli then addressed those around : 

" Skizoumish ! the example of the pious Sighouin is in 
your midst, we must profit by it. Henceforth she belongs 
to the whole nation, for she is the common beloved mother. 
As we all one day desire to share the glorious reward which 
she has just obtained by her virtues and good works, we 
must all follow the path which she has traced for us, and 
which leads to everlasting happiness. From the day of 
her baptism, in April, 1842, she constantly, night and day, 
devoted herself to your instruction. In the service of her 
God, she accepted with joy and eagerness, the privations, 
misery, contradictions, which it pleased him to send her. 
In her this day are verified the words of the Lord addressed 
to the just: 'Because thou hast kept the word of my 
patience, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, 
which shall come upon the whole world to try them that 
dwell upon the earth.' " — Apoc. iii. 10. 

The death of Louise Sighouin was the signal of a sud- 
den desolation and a universal grief in the tribe, which lost 
a mother beloyed by all, and especially by the children, a 
faithful friend to the whole nation, the comfort of the sick 
and afflicted, a guide and a support! The loss was im- 
mense, we avow. Yet this mourning was that' of a Chris- 
tian people, and not that of a perverse and unbelieving 
world, that has no hope beyond the grave. Amid this In- 
dian tribe was renewed the salutary sadness that we or- 
dinarily admire at the death of the just, whose memory is 
ever dear and in benediction, according to the words of the 
Holy Ghost : " O how beautiful is the chaste generation 
with glory : for the memory thereof is immortal : because 
it is known both with God and with men." — Wisdom, iv. i. 

The minister of the Lord was still reciting the last 
prayers of the Church, invoking the angels and saints to 



MOURNING OF THE TRIBE. II69 

receive the soul of her who had just expired, to present 
it at the throne of the Most High, when one of those kneel- 
ing beside him, ran out crying: " Sighouin, good Sighouin 
is dead ! " The cry was taken up and echoed in the valley 
and in the foot of the high mountains which encircle the 
residence of the Sacred Heart. The Indians ran up in 
crowds around the lodge of the departed. In their im- 
patience to gratify their desire of gazing once more on the 
pious woman, the lodge was invaded, but it was too small 
to hold them all, the mats were torn from the poles ; the 
lodge thus opened on all sides, enabled the crowd of spec- 
tators to satisfy their pious wish, and they gazed in admir- 
ing silence on the last sleep of Louise. 

It is a custom of the Indians for the relatives and friends 
of a deceased person to assemble in his lodge after his 
death. When the missionary, after reciting the prayers 
of the Church, leaves the lodge, he says : " Pray, my chil- 
dren, for the repose of his soul," and adds some words 
suited to the circumstances. Then, on a signal from one 
of the nearest relatives of the deceased, all present burst 
into tears and groans, either real or feigned, or rather they 
begin lamentations, often forced, and extorted rather by the 
usual ceremony, than by a real sorrow caused by the loss of 
the deceased. On Louise's death the scene of mourning 
was far different : it was doubtless sincere. Father Gazzoli 
thus relates it : "I was an eye-witness, moved to tears by 
all that passed. My emotion kept increasing, especially 
when, even before the end of the prayers, universal cries 
and tears, interrupted by sobs, announced clearly that no 
ceremony was enacting here, but, on the contrary, they had 
assembled to pay a just tribute of gratitude and admiration 
to Louise's virtues, and to relieve the lively grief caused 
by her loss." 

It must not be imagined that sunset, on this as on other 
occasions, put an end to these demonstrations of sorrow, 
regret, veneration and love, displayed over the mortal re- 
mains of good Louise : they rather increased. The Indians 
74 



IiyO EXTRAORDINARY UNANIMITY. 

immediately put up a vast lodge, which they illuminated by 
a fire of resinous wood. The body, becomingly wrapped 
in skins of wild animals, was respectfully laid upon a bed 
of straw ; a great number watch around, and recite prayers 
aloud during the whole night. The pious ceremonies of 
that night were till then unexampled in the country of the 
Cceur d'Alenes. There was on this occasion a most touch- 
ing, edifying and extraordinary unanimity. Men, women 
and children were seen surrounding with equal eagerness 
the corpse of Louise, unable to tear themselves from her 
whom they called by so many titles, their mother, their guide, 
and their true friend. The prayers and hymns were from 
time to time interrupted by edifying discourses on the life 
and heroic virtues of the deceased ; the principal chiefs of 
the nation were the first to retrace most touching pictures 
of them for the assembly. 

The missionary, struck at the spectacle of so striking a 
testimony borne to virtue by a people possessed of such 
feeble ideas of it, believed it his duty to go and preside 
in this pious assembly. He proceeded to the lodge about 
midnight, at the moment when the eldest son of the de- 
ceased was making a panegyric on his beloved mother. 
His beautiful words, full of simple, unstudied, true elo- 
quence, produced the liveliest sensation and emotion in all 
his auditory. The abundance of his tears, which did not 
cease to flow as long as he spoke, prevented him from 
continuing his long and interesting discourse. The mis- 
sionary then rose, and while exhorting his good Indians 
to imitate the example of Louise, he expressed the senti- 
ments of esteem and admiration which her virtues and good 
works had excited in his heart from his arrival in the 
mission. 

On the day succeeding the death of Louise, her body 
was carried in procession early in the morning to the church,- 
accompanied by all the Indians of the camp. The labors 
of the harvest were not resumed all that day. All thought 
alone of giving in the most expressive manner a mark of 



FUNERAL CEREMONIES. II7I 

their love, their esteem, and their grief, to the common 
mother of the tribe. After a solemn mass of requiem, and 
all the other funeral ceremonies of the Church, Father 
Gazzoli resolved to leave the body exposed during the rest 
of the day, to satisfy the pious zeal, we might almost say 
ever increasing devotion, of the many friends of the de- 
ceased. Her children, her family, all, in a word, constantly 
pressed around the bier, and seemed unable to tear them- 
selves from it. It would have seemed too hard and too 
cruel to put an end so soon to the last expressions of af- 
fection of that religious assemblage, of those truly Christian 
hearts. 

At last the day began to wane, and the shades of night 
would soon infold the valley. The missionary had to make 
an effort to overcome his own feelings, and to propose to 
his good children in Christ a separation so afflicting and 
so painful to their hearts. Yet it was the most favorable 
time to give the interment a funereal grandeur, and a last 
tribute of love and respect to the precious remains of Sig- 
houin. 

The funeral surpassed all expectation. The children alone, 
boys and girls, as a proof of their innocent love, had thought 
of preparing with care a large quantity of resinous splinters. 
These primitive torches in the hands of these children of 
nature, dressed chiefly in bear, wolf, jaguar, beaver and 
otter skins, added to the ceremony, sad and mournful in 
itself, a peculiar air of wild majesty and savage grandeur, 
in keeping with the place and the interesting occasion of 
the assemblage. Perfect order was observed in the pro- 
cession ; modest piety and holy silence reigned in the two 
long files, one composed of men and the other of women, 
where nothing was heard but the prayer and the chant. 
The grave had been dug by the children and kindred of 
Louise. Her simple and modest cofiin was the work of 
her youngest son. On reaching the cemetery, the Indians 
ranged themselves in order around the grave, and after the 
last funeral prayers of the Church and some words of con- 



1 172 TESTIMONIAL OF HER HUSBAND. 

solation from the priest, the coffin was lowered. Each one 
present then threw a spadeful of earth into the grave, pro- 
nouncing a prayer and a last adieu. This touching cere- 
mony, and the most trifling incidents of the great funeral, 
live in the memory of our Coeur d'AIenes. They repeat 
them and will repeat them to their grandchildren ; they will 
render ever memorable this day of Christian sorrow, this 
religious triumph conferred on a poor Indian woman of the 
Skizoumish or Cceur d'AIenes. 

In the month of February, 1859, in one of my visits to 
the husband of Louise, a poor old cripple, unable for many 
years to walk without crutches, I conversed with him on the 
holy life led by his wife on earth, on her noble qualities and 
the great virtues of which she had given so striking an ex- 
ample. I asked him what he had most loved and admired 
in her. " Truly, Father," he replied, " I cannot tell you 
in what Louise most excelled. From the blessed day on 
which you conferred baptism upon us, all was good and 
admirable in her life. Never to my knowledge was there 
the slightest shadow of a difference between us; not a syl- 
lable, not a word louder than another. When I was sick 
she carried me in the canoe; if I could not use my hands, 
she cut my food and put it in my mouth. Louise served me 
like a guardian angel. Now I am an object of pity and 
compassion, for I am weak in mind. I loved to hear her 
consoling words, to listen to her wise counsels, to follow her 
salutary advice, for she was full of the wisdom and spirit 
of God. The Fathers taught her many beautiful prayers, 
and we recited them together with our children. Now I 
have no one to repeat those beautiful prayers to me, and I 
am to be pitied. Yet I never cease thanking the Lord for 
the favors which he has not ceased to bestow upon me. I 
submit myself to his holy will ; my heart is always satisfied 
and calm." 

The good old man has always been a subject of edification 
amid his tribe, universally loved and respected by all the 
nation. He is a man of the greatest simplicity and of very 



PIETY OF ADOLPH. ^^7S 

solid and fervent piety ; nothing gives him greater pleasure 
than a conversation on holy things and on the great affair 
of salvation. You can never visit him without seeing the 
smile on his lips and without finding him at prayer, with 
his beads in his hands. He begins to say the rosary early 
in the morning; the first is offered to Mary to keep him in 
the holy grace of the Lord during the day; he recites the 
others either for the missionaries, for his family, for his 
tribe, or for some other intention. From the day of his 
baptism, he made it a duty to pray for me every day, and 
I feel the utmost gratitude to him. 

Good Adolph, such is the name of Louise's husband, re- 
lated to me among other things, that during his wife's life, 
when the village set out for the chase, or to get wild roots, 
and Louise went along with them, he felt very lonesome. 
When he saw Louise about to die, he told her : " If you 
die, it will be impossible for me to stay here ; I shall find 
the time so long, I will go back to my own land." " Take 
care not to do so," returned Louise; " be very careful not to 
do so, Adolph ! Do not remove from the house of the 
Lord (the church). As I die here, I wish you to remain 
here till you die. You will not be lonesome." Adolph 
remains faithful to his wife's recommendation. His cabin 
is beside the church, and although alone the greater part 
of the time since the death of Louise, he has not felt the 
time tedious for a single moment. His beads and prayer 
are his greatest consolation, and his only delight. 

On my recent visit to the Coeur d'Alenes, I again ques- 
tioned the Indians, in order to obtain new details as to the 
life of Louise Sighouin. The answer was this : "After 
so many years it is difficult to add anything to these extraor- 
dinary facts, so well known by all, except that from the 
time of her baptism, her life was an act of continual char- 
ity." And I can say, and all that read this narrative will 
agree with me, that there is no exaggeration in this sum- 
mary remark. It was a devotedness of every day and every 
hour, a chain of links of little details of mercy, which offer 



1 174 LOYOLA OF THE KALISPELS, 

nothing very striking, unless it be that untiring constancy, 
which for more than ten years was always prompt night and 
day in exercising all works of charity, corporal and spiritual. 
No one will better appreciate this martyrdom of detail than 
those who are themselves devoted to it ; and if we consider 
that Louise was poor, infirm, that she could only half un- 
derstand the missionaries, who as yet only stammered the 
language of the Indians, no one will call in' doubt the many 
graces which Louise received, and the immense profit she 
derived from the lessons of her divine Master. God 
had raised up Louise to be the assistant of the apostolic men 
in the outset of their labors, when they did not understand 
the language. It had been the same at the Mission of St. 
Ignatius. The Almighty had given the missionaries the 
chief Loyola to do among the Kalispels what Louise has 
done among the Coeur d'Alenes. Both were poor and in- 
firm ; it was a lively faith which animated their zeal ; both 
devoted themselves to their last sigh, and both were bitterly 
deplored after their death. Loyola displayed invincible 
firmness. "As long as I have a breath of life, my people 
must walk uprightly," said he; and his virtue alone gave 
him the authority to speak so. Louise on the contrary had 
no support in her zeal except her admirable meekness, her 
unwearied patience. Both died about the same time, when 
the missionaries began to be generally understood by the 
Indians. 

I have all these circumstances from the missionaries on 
the spot, especially from the reverend and worthy Father 
Gazzoli, nephew of the cardinal of that name who died in 
1858. This Father is at this moment Superior of the Mis- 
sion of the Sacred Heart among the Skizoumish or Cceur 
d'Alenes. 

In one of my letters written ten years ago, June 4, 1849, 
I said : " This extraordinary attention of the Indians, 
and this avidity on their part for the word of God, must 
seem surprising in a people who appear to combine all moral 
and intellectual miseries. But the spirit of the Lord breathes 



THE FINGER OF GOD. 1 1/5 

where it pleases him, his graces and his Hght prompt and 
aid men whom ignorance, rather than a perverse or disor- 
derly will, has rendered evil. And that same spirit which 
obliged the most rebellious to cry out with St. Paul : ' Lord ! 
what wilt thou have me to do ? ' can often soften the fiercest 
hearts, inflame the coldest, produce peace, justice and joy, 
where inequity, trouble and disorder reigned. The great 
respect and attention which the poor Indians show on all 
occasions to the missionary who comes to announce to them 
the word of God, are a source of great consolation and en- 
couragement. He finds the finger of God in the spon- 
taneous manifestations of these unhappy men." Since the 
gospel has been announced to the tribes of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, the Lord has always had his chosen souls among them. 
In the different missions, many neophytes are distinguished 
by a zeal and piety truly worthy of the primitive Christians, 
by a rare assiduity at all religious exercises, by the faithful 
accomplishment of all the duties of a good Christian, in a 
word, by all the virtues which we have just seen in their 
highest form in Louise Sighouin. 



CHAPTER XII. 

HISTORY OF THE FAMILY OF LE GROS FRANCOIS.^ 

A Lewis and Clark Indian — A Catlin Indian — Tales of a traveler 
— Destroyed by his own good fortune — Progress of the feud — An 
outlawed desperado — Prowess of La Main — Things that sometimes 
happened at the trading posts. 

TlTfl -^-^^ Messrs. Lewis and Clark made their voyage up 
^*^^ the Missouri, the only Assiniboins they met with 
numbered about sixty lodges of the Gens des Roches or 
Stone Indians, who were the only band of this nation then 
inhabiting the upper Missouri region. The rest of the na- 
tion, about 1,500 lodges in all, resided on the plains of 
Red river and its tributaries, and traded altogether with 
the Hudson Bay Company. At the head and as chief of 
the small band above named was Wahemugga, or Iron Flint, 
surnamed by the Canadian voyageurs and traders Le Gros 
Frangois, a sturdy, bulky Indian, no doubt. Several gen- 
tlemen of the American Fur Company, now residing in St, 
Louis, have been well acquainted with this chief, who died 
some years ago, in an advanced age, near the Minnetaree, 
or Grosventre, village. He was the father of a numerous 
family and is supposed to have had fifty children by differ- 
ent wives. His children were scattered in the course of 
time through the different bands, composing the Assiniboin 
nation. About the time of his death there remained with 
him as follows: Wahjanjana, or Light, his oldest son, 
called by the whites Jackson, from his having visited the 
President of that name at Washington City. His second 
son was called Le Sucre, or Sweet. The third was named 
Bowundapa, or Broken Cloud ; the fourth Nappana, or the 
Hand; the fifth Lakakeana, or Le Premier qui voile (the 

1 From the Linton Album, pp. 118- 124. 
[I 176] 



JACKSON VISITS WASHINGTON. ^^77 

First who Flies), the same who, in 1851, left Fort Union, 
in my company, to go and assist at the Great Council, held 
at the mouth of Horse creek, in the Nebraska valley, under 
the superintendence of Colonel D. D. Mitchell. 

A sameness of character marked this whole family, and 
ran through many of the other children, who are yet living, 
though it is not necessary to state their names here. They 
were all proud, brave and overbearing toward their own 
people. In battle none were, and still are, better warriors, 
and for the chase, few equaled them. With the whites, 
however, their manner was altogether different, being tract- 
able and friendly and supporting the traders in every way 
in their power. The bravery and good conduct of the eldest, 
named Light,^ even brought him into notice, and he was 
chosen soldier of Fort Union, about the year 1829-30, 
making it his business to keep the Indians in order when 
they came to trade, and also to return any horses belonging 
to the fort that were stolen by his nation, these thefts at 
the time being very common. It was his custom to pursue 
the horse thieves to their camp, in company of some of his 
brothers. The guilty party might think himself very fortu- 
nate if he escaped a sound thrashing after the animals were 
taken from them. 

About the year 1831, President Jackson invited deputies 
of several of these prairie tribes to visit him at the Capital 
and through the Indian agents made his wishes known to 
all the Indians. Of the Assiniboins, none could be found 
to risk the trip except Light, who went in company with 
a Cree or Knisteneau from the north, " Le Bras Coupe " 
(the cut arm). I think they passed the winter in Washing- 
ton City and were well received by their Great Father, the 
President. In the spring they were sent back to their own 
people and arrived safe, from which time the Assiniboin 
was called Jackson, by which name we will call him now. 

2 Catlin tells the story of this Indian, and gives portraits of him, be- 
fore and after his travels. (Plates 271 and 272.) He gives his name 
as "Wi-jun-jon or Pigeon's Egg Head." 



1178 AND BECOMES UNPOPULAR. 

The consequence of this trip was the ruin of the Indian. 
He had seen and knew too much to Hve according to his 
former habits. He had been too much flattered and 
caressed by the whites to respect his own people and thought 
himself far above them. Sporting a brigadier-general's 
uniform, a government medal, top boots and a cane, he 
thought and acted as if there were but two persons in 
the world worth looking at or talking about, himself and 
General Jackson. He condescended, however, occasion- 
ally to relate some of the strange sights he had seen, 
which, though strictly true, yet could not be conceived 
by the limited imaginations of his people. Most of them, 
knowing his temper, said nothing, but thought him a ter- 
rible liar. Sometimes, however, an individual would have 
the hardihood to call his veracity into question, when a 
stroke from him with his sword or tomahawk was given 
on the spot to silence all dispute. He could not conceive 
why they would not believe him when he told nothing 
but the truth, and consequently he was involved in con- 
tinual quarrels, most of which he decided in his own favor 
by means of his weapons, making a host of enemies around 
him. He would ring the bell and have his boots blacked, 
ring the bell for his horse, ring it for a cup of water that 
stood within his reach. In short, he attempted to estab- 
lish a complete despotism amongst them. Amongst other 
qualities it was supposed by the Indians, long before he 
went to Washington, that he could not be killed by a ball, 
this from having received several wounds in battle, appar- 
ently through vital parts, which yet healed in a short space 
of time. In truth the Indians thought and said : '* He was 
impervious to death by lead." 

One spring evening Jackson, stretched out as usual on 
his mat in the lodge, rang his bell for his Indian boy and 
servant whom he had named Tim. The boy making his 
appearance, he told him to go around the camp and invite 
a dozen of his people whom he named. " Tell them," 
said he, " that I am lonesome and will amuse them a little." 



A STRANGER IS INCREDULOUS. 1 1/9 

The boy went on his errand. About dark the guests began 
to arrive and soon the lodge was filled, with as many as 
could come in, amongst whom was a stranger from another 
camp who had arrived the day before. This fellow was 
one of those good-for-nothing kind of Indians, who rove 
about from one camp to another stealing horses and other- 
wise disturbing the peace. When all were seated and 
pipes were passing briskly around, Jackson began to tell 
of some of the sights and scenes he had witnessed whilst 
at Washington, and in these stories he always set out with 
saying : " When I was at Washington," no difference at 
what other place the thing had transpired. On the present 
occasion he spoke to this effect : 

" When I was at Washington, one evening the inter- 
preter told me that on the next day we should visit the 
Shot Tower (this was in the vicinity of Howard's Park). 
In the morning, after dressing as usual, we went to the 
place and, behold, a round stone lodge was there, about 
the height of four of our tallest trees piled one on top 
of the other. We went in- and ascended in the interior 
by steps going round the building in the interior, and after 
counting 260 steps, I arrived at the summit. This build- 
ing is completely round and smooth on the outside, the 
base about four times the circumference of our largest 
lodges, and getting smaller as it goes up." 

Here he was interrupted by the stranger above named, 
who stated that what he told was a downright lie, for 
how could people get up so high to build. They would 
have nothing to stand upon, etc. When he had ceased our 
narrator continued : " With regard to saying ' it is a lie ' 
I will convince you of it when my story is told. As I 
was going to say, from the top of this building melted 
lead is poured through a sieve, which in the act of fall- 
ing becomes round. But from the top of this place is the 
most beautiful view imaginable. Houses, ships, men and 
everything look as if seen from the clouds and some are 
mere specks." 



ll8o JACKSON RESORTS TO THE CANE 

Here the stranger again broke out into a loud laugh 
and declared it was a " heap of lies." But Jackson would 
have his story; so, merely observing, "Be patient, be 
patient, I will convince you presently," he gave a very 
good description to his auditors of the beautiful scenery 
from the top of one of these elevated places, in the course 
of which he was again contradicted by the same indi- 
vidual, in a most positive manner. It was evident he did 
not know the other's temper and habits, or did not care. 
However, when he had brought this and other stories to 
a close, he said : " Friends, it is getting late, we must sepa- 
rate for the night, but before we part, form a ring out- 
side the lodge and I will in the moonlight convince this 
stranger of the truth of my story." 

This being done, Jackson took his cane and stepped out. 
" Stranger," said he, " when I was at Washington, it hap- 
pened, in a company in a private house, that some gentle- 
man was relating a strange story to others. I was there 
with the interpreter. During the recital there was another 
man present, who, on several occasions, had manifested his 
bad heart, and on this so far forgot himself as to call 
the other a liar. The gentleman said nothing at the time, 
but promised to convince him as soon as the company ad- 
journed, which shortly afterward they did to a bar-room 
of a public house, when the guest who told the story took 
the one who called him a liar by the arm thus and caned 
him most unmercifully." And suiting the action to the 
word, he broke it over him and belabored him around the 
circle, much to the amusement of the lookers-on. 

The company then dispersed to their several lodges, 
and the one who got the caning to the lodge where some 
of his relatives lived. In a short time most of the camp 
was sound asleep, but one individual slept not. The 
stranger was busy and employed in filing down a piece of 
iron about an inch long to fit the size of the calibre of his 
gun. This completed, he wakened up one of his relations, 
and told him of the disgraceful punishment that he had re- 



AND THE STRANGER SHOOTS HIM. II81 

ceived, adding that he was now about ta revenge himself 
and leave the camp. He stated that as his enemy, Jackson, 
was supposed to be ball-proof, he would try the virtue of 
an iron slug, and showed the other his bolt. He loaded his 
gun with care and went to the lodge of Jackson. That in- 
dividual was sitting on his mat smoking his pipe and per- 
haps thinking of his visit to Washington. The other, seeing 
the shadow of his head through the skin tent, placed the 
muzzle of his gun within a few inches of his head, drew the 
trigger, and all that remained of our gallant chief was a 
mangled corpse. The slug tore away the whole of the 
upper part of the head. The camp took the alarm and 
searched for the murderer, but he had fled and in the dark- 
ness it was useless to pursue. 

Jackson left several children, all of whom turned out as 
brave as he. Some have of late years been killed in battle. 

The next of the brothers was Le Sucre, and as soon as 
the body was mourned over and put in the forks of a tree, 
according to their custom, he began to make inquiries in 
the neighboring camp for the murderer, and after some 
trouble succeeded in finding him out, though in a place 
dangerous for him to venture, as the whole of his relations 
were there. He, however, nothing daunted, walked into 
the lodge and killed the man on the spot, but in his turn 
was literally cut to pieces by the rest of the Indians. 

The regulation of affairs now developed upon the third 
brother, called Broken Cloud. He was a good man for the 
whites and well liked by them. He had the same unruly 
temper as the rest of the family, though more politic with 
his people. He was a long time soldier at Fort Union and 
regretted by all when he died. However, Broken Cloud, 
although determined to punish the murderers of Le Sucre, 
also chose his time for doing it, and with this view, he on 
several occasions spoke kindly and appeared to be on good 
terms with them. One winter evening, about two years 
after the death of his brother, one of the fellows concerned 
in it happened to turn up at the camp of Broken Cloud alone. 



1152 ONE OF THE BROTHERS OUTLAWED. 

He immediately called the Indian in, gave him his meal, 
smoked the pipe with him, and to all appearances had for- 
got all old scores, but, in a few hours, when the man least 
expected it, clove his skull with his tomahawk and threw his 
body outside the camp. 

For a year or two things went on as usual, when some of 
the relations of the dead man began to look around for 
an opportunity of revenging. This, however, was not an 
easy matter, and by some means or other they made out to 
get his brother. La Main, to aid them in bringing about his 
destruction. This Indian, La Main, was a son of Gros 
Francois by a different wife, and was also one of the worst 
Indians then in the nation and had at this time, by his bad 
conduct, incurred the displeasure of the rest of his family. 
This being favorable to the enemies of his brother. Broken 
Cloud, they at length by payment and promises engaged him 
on their side, choosing the time when Broken Cloud's camp 
was far off, and learning that he, with a few women, had 
gone to the fort to trade, they arrived also in the same 
evening, about twelve in number, apparently as a war-party 
going to the Blackfeet. It was then the custom for trading 
and war-parties to sleep in another set of buildings about a 
hundred yards distant from the fort, in which both the 
parties encamped for the night, apparently as friends with 
each other. Nothing was heard by the people of the fort 
during the night, but on awakening they were informed that 
Broken Cloud had been murdered in the night by La Main 
and his party. One of the traders proceeded to examine 
the body and found it pierced with twenty-three stabs and 
arrow shots. He was decently interred at Fort Union. 

In consequence of this act La Main was declared an out- 
law by the rest of his brothers, but he could never be got 
at with any degree of safety. He remained for the most 
part with the gang with whom he was concerned, leading 
them in various war expeditions, in which his desperate 
bravery gained him credit of powder amongst the others. 
though for his numerous acts of rascality he was despised 



A FIGHT WITH THE CROWS. I183 

and somewhat feared both by whites and Indians. On one 
occasion he went to war upon the Crows with nineteen 
young men, most of whom were boys of fifteen to eighteen 
years. They met the Crow! camp travehng, and hiding them- 
selves, killed and scalped two Crow Indians. The rest of 
the camp coming up and perceiving the dead bodies of their 
people made search and found the whole party of their 
enemies concealed in an island of timber and brush on the 
prairie which extended to the waters of the Yellowstone 
River. 

The Assiniboins had made a small barricade of logs and 
branches and awaited the attack of the Crows, determined 
to make a desperate resistance. The whole Crow nation 
surrounded the place and made repeated charges against 
the barricade, firing in upon the Assiniboins, who returned 
their fire at close quarters and drove them back many times 
with loss, though at each discharge from the Crows some 
of the others were killed. Those remaining, nothing 
daunted, seized the guns of their dead comrades and con- 
tinued the conflict. In this way they kept about 600 Crows 
at bay the greater part of the day, killing ten and wound- 
ing twenty or thirty others. To get them out of this shelter 
the Crows set fire to the timber and underbrush, which, 
though sometimes a good plan, at this time enabled La Main 
and three others to escape through the smoke to the tim- 
bers of the Yellowstone, whence they found their wav to 
Fort Union. These four and one woman were all that 
were saved from the battle. The rest had fallen. La Main 
had his powder-horn shot off, two guns shot out of his 
hands, his cap and coat riddled with balls, but not a scratch 
on his skin. 

Shortly after this affair another company of traders 
[Sublette & Campbell] in opposition to the American Fur 
Company, came on the Missouri and establishing themselves 
at the mouth of the Yello\\''stone, commenced their traffic. 
During the first winter of their trade La Main came alone 
to Fort Union and in the night, understanding that a party 



1184 EXPLOITS OF LA MAIN. 

of his people had gone to the other fort to trade whisky, 
he went down to drink with them. 

In the course of their frohc a quarrel sprung up amongst 
them in regard to La Main, the whole of the party agreeing 
to kill him. Some of them barred the door of the room in 
which they were and stood against it. Others advanced 
upon him with knives, lances, and tomahawks; but such 
was the activity of this man that for some time he contended 
alone with twenty-five or thirty Indians, with nothing but 
a battle-axe. This instrument he wielded in every direction, 
knocking down some and killing one man. He forced his 
passage to a window, then leaping through the glass, 
scrambled on top of the house and cleared the pickets at a 
single bound. Although at this juncture arrows and guns 
were fired at him in abundance, yet he got off again without 
a scar and ran up to Fort Union, three miles above, per- 
fectly naked, on an extremely cold winter's night. The 
gate was opened for him and after having warmed himself, 
he told the story of his escape, laughing and in great glee, 
apparently regretting he had left the place when so much 
fun was going on. 

In a year from this time it happened that the rest of the 
family of Le Gros Frangois, headed by Le Premier qui Voile, 
La Main's half brother, came to Fort Union to trade and 
were put into the usual reception-room for Indians, which 
room, wihen the gates of the fort were closed, had no com-i 
munication with the interior. In the night La Main also 
came and was let inside of the fort. When he found out 
who had arrived, instead of making his escape, which he 
could easily have done, he requested to be let in amongst 
the others and the gate was opened for him. He promised 
to smoke and talk with Le Premier qui Voile and his party 
for some time, when the latter, watching an opportunity, 
shot La Main through the body. He fell and they finished 
him by firing five or six shots through him. In the morn- 
ing, Le Premier qui Voile, as soon as the gates of the fort 
were opened, tumbled in the dead body of La Main, say- 



PRESENT HEAD OF THE FAMILY. II85 

ing, " Here is the dog who killed my brother, Broken Cloud. 
Do what you please with him." 

Le Premier qui Voile is now at the head of the Gens des 
Roches, about forty lodges, and has turned out a good man 
for the whites ; but his people are afraid of him, the more so 
because he is surrounded by a large band of relations. 

I have made a trip with him from Fort Union to the 
Platte and have had an opportunity of getting some knowl- 
edge of his character. The rest of the family are all of the 
same disposition and in all probability the same quarrels 
will be the occasion of their deaths from time to time. 
75 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE INDIAN QUESTION. 

Melancholy future of the tribes — Game disappearing — Enforced 
migration of the natives — Misery, destitution and bloody wars — Dif- 
ficulty of introducing agriculture — Catholic missions needed — Kansas 
and Nebraska — Tragic end of Father Duerinck — Rapid decrease of 
the Indians — Their critical position — Attitude of the Republic — 
Rascality in executicn of treaty provisions — Approaching extermina- 
tion of western tribes — Self-government — Regarding mixture of 
races — Treaties of 1854 — Progressive invasion — Bad faith of the 
whites — Indians at their mercy. 

Gentlemen:^ 

*fl"N order to complete the observations which I had the 
" honor of offering you in my late letters on the west- 
ern tribes of Indians of the United States, I purpose sub- 
mitting to you certain facts touching the present condition 
of the Indians of the upper Missouri and among the Rocky 
Mountains. 

The facts — such is, at least, my opinion — reveal clearly 
the melancholy future which at no very remote epoch awaits 
these nations, if efficient means are not employed for pre- 
venting the woes with which they are threatened. My visit 
to several tribes, and above all that which I lately paid to the 
great Sioux nation, have only confirmed the sad forebodings 
to which my experience, during a prolonged residence among 
these forsaken children of the forest, had given birth. I 
have communicated these views, in substance, to an honor- 
able agent of the United States Government, who is labor- 

1 Letter addressed to the directors of the association at Lyons, dated 
St. Louis, June 10, 1849. Forms Letter V, Cinquante Nouvelles Lettres, 
VI, Western Missions and Missionaries. The latter text is here 
followed. 

[1186] 



DISAPPEARANCE OF GAME. I187 

ing with ardor and constancy in the amehoration of the 
condition of the Indians, and who joins, as much as is in 
his power, the use of means to the laudable wishes of his 
heart. 

I have traversed at several different times the vast plains 
which are watered by the Missouri and its principal tribu- 
taries, such as the Platte or Nebraska, Yellowstone, the 
Mankizita-Watpa, the Niobrara, Tchan Sausan, called James 
river by the whites, the Wasecha or Vermillion and the 
three great superior forks that constitute the source of the 
Missouri, viz., the Jefferson, the Gallatin and the Madison. 
Coasting along the north and south branches of the Sas- 
katchewan, I penetrated 300 miles into the interior of the 
forests and plains watered by the Athabasca. In every 
place the whites, half-breeds and natives who inhabit these 
regions, agree in saying that the buffalo, moose, or Amer- 
ican elk, and deer of all kinds, diminish in an alarming 
manner, and that in a few years these races of animals 
will have wholly disappeared. The territory traversed by 
the Athabasca furnished, some years ago, abundant game 
to the greater part of the nations of the Crees, and to a tribe 
of Assiniboins, which, sixty years previous, had detached 
themselves from the main body of their nation. 

Well, over this vast extent of territory I met but three 
families, viz. — an old Iroquois with his children and grand- 
children, numbering about thirty-seven; a family of half- 
breeds, composed of seven persons ; and a Sioux with his 
wife and children. The Crees and the Assiniboins, hitherto 
the occupants of this land, have been forced to follow the 
track of the buffalo, and are beginning to intrude upon 
the territory of the Blackfeet. I resided a long time among 
the Flatheads and the Kalispels. I have visited at differ- 
ent epochs the Kootenais at the North, and the Shoshones or 
Snakes at the South. Their vast territories, watered by the 
principal branches of the upper Columbia and the Rio Colo- 
rado of the West, were formerly abundantly provided with 



II<38 REDUCED STATE OF INDIANS. 

every variety of game, which furnished them with clothing 
and nourishment. 

But now that the buffalo has disappeared from these 
lands, the poor Indians are obliged to go and pass a portion 
of the year east of the Rocky Mountains, in search of their 
only means of subsistence. Often, too, in pursuit of their 
prey, they are drawn into the regions claimed by the Crows 
and Blackfeet, and are thus obliged to open their way 
arms in hand. The Yanktons and the Santees, Sioux tribes, 
are beginning to make inroads on the hunting grounds of 
the Briiles, a portion of the Sioux nation. The Poncas are 
often driven to the necessity of hunting in the lands of the 
Sioux and of the Cheyennes. Formerly the Towas, the 
Omahas and the Otoes subsisted principally on the product 
of their buffalo hunts ; at present they are reduced to the 
most pitiful condition, having nothing for food but a small 
quantity of deer, birds and roots. Such is their misery 
that they are forced to scour the country in every direction, 
and in little bands,. most happy if they escape the ambush of 
an enemy more powerful than themselves, and who fre- 
quently massacre the old, the women and children. It is 
not rare here to have to deplore similar cruelties. Each 
year shows an increase of these revolting scenes — melan- 
choly forerunners of an approaching and tragical issue. 

The Pawnees and the Omahas are in a state of nearly ab- 
solute destitution. Surrounded by enemies, where shall 
they go to hunt the wild animals which often fail them, hav- 
ing retired to other sections? It is true that for a consid- 
erable time it has been customary among them to cultivate 
a little field of squashes and corn ; but often, also, when the 
harvest appears to meet their expectation and their toil, the 
enemy comes suddenly and wrests from them this last pitiful 
resource. 

The buffalo is disappearing and diminishing each success- 
ive year on the prairies of the upper Missouri. This does 
not, however, hinder them from being seen grazing in very 
numerous herds in particular localities ; but the area of land 



WARS^ FAMINE AND LIQUOR. IiSQ 

that these animals frequent is becoming more and more cir- 
cumscribed. Besides, they do not remain in the same place, 
but change pasturage according to the seasons. 

Thence arise the incursions which the Sioux make into 
the territories of the Aricaras, the Mandans, the Minne- 
tarees, the Crows and the Assiniboins ; thence also the mu- 
tual invasions of the Crows and the Blackfeet in their re- 
spective hunts. These depredations are committed by all 
the wandering tribes of the desert, and give birth to dis- 
sensions, and to incessant and bloody wars, which annually 
revive and multiply, to their great detriment and misfortune. 
It is not, therefore, astonishing that the number of these 
savages is gradually decreasing. In the plains, war and 
famine lend their aid ; on the frontier of civilization, liquors, 
vices and maladies carry them off by thousands. 

I have visited the Blackfeet, the Crows, Mandans, Assini- 
boins, the Aricaras, the Minnetarees, etc., who possess the 
whole region of the upper Missouri and its tributaries. The 
condition of all these savages, far from the influence of all 
religious and moral principles, renders them much alike — 
ejusdem farincc. Among them all are met the same cruelty, 
the same barbarity, the same sloth and supineness, in fine, 
the same degrading and revolting superstitions, pushed to 
the most remote limits which the human mind abandoned 
to itself, and under the empire of vile passions, can reach. 

It is quite a common observation, and I have myself 
heard it offered by several persons, that the " religious as 
well as the social condition of the Indians of these regions, 
is in nowise capable of amelioration." I am far from par- 
ticipating in this opinion. Let the obstacles arising from 
the people who style themselves civilized, be removed; let 
all trade in ardent spirits, that deadly scourge of the Indian, 
be prevented ; let missionaries be sent, whose zeal is prompted 
only by the love of our divine Master, and with no object 
but the happiness of the poor souls intrusted to their care, 
and I am confident that in a short time we should have the 
consoling spectacle of a sensible improvement among them. 



I 190 CIVILIZATION BY MEANS OF AGRICULTURE, 

My personal observations serve as a foundation for these 
hopes. I have had frequent interviews with the Blackfeet, 
the Crows, the Assiniboins, the Aricaras and the Sioux. 
They have always lent the most marked attention to all my 
words; they have ever listened to the holy truths which I 
preached to them with extreme pleasure and a lively interest. 
They entreated me with the most captivating ingenuousness 
to take compassion on their miseries, to establish myself 
among them, promising to join a faithful practice to the 
knowledge of the truths I should impart to them. Among 
the Indians of the great American desert, I never found 
even one who presumed to rail against our holy religion. 

To put an end to the cruel wars which decimate these na- 
tions ; to rescue so many souls from the baneful consequences 
of the idolatry in which they are buried; to prevent the to- 
tal destruction of these tribes already so wretched, and yet 
redeemed like ourselves by the precious blood of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, is it not an enterprise worthy of inflaming the 
zeal of a minister of the gospel ? a work Avorthy of claiming 
the efficient co-operation and assistance of a government as 
powerful as is that of the United States ? 

As to agriculture, considered as a means of civilization, its 
introduction will always be difficult among the Indians, as 
long as there remains to them a hope of procuring buffaloes 
or other wild animals. It would prove, in my opinion, a 
chimera to pretend to introduce this branch among them on 
an extensive scale in the beginning. We know, however, by 
experience, that, although little habituated to the fatigue of 
the assiduous labor that farming requires, some tribes have 
already attempted to cultivate their little fields. This step 
taken, each year, according to the abundance of the increase, 
the limits of these little fields might be extended. Like 
their brethren who reside west of the Rocky IMountains, they 
would become more and more attached to the soil whose 
productions would be the result of their toil. Their roving 
habits, the wars which often spring from them, would in- 
sensibly give place to a more peaceable and domestic life. 



EFFORTS OF THE CATHOLICS. II9I 

The animals which they would raise, replacing the buffalo, 
would insensibly efface its memory amid surrounding plenty. 

During the last ten years, a great part of the disposable 
funds of the vice-province of Missouri have been employed 
in the relief of the Indians. The liberality of the Associa- 
tion for the Propagation of the Faith established at Lyons, 
and that of our friends, have assisted us powerfully in con- 
verting and civilizing the tribes beyond the Rocky Moun- 
tains. Several of our fellow-members still pursue there the 
same work of charity, and many of our Fathers and Brothers 
desire to visit the tribes which I visited last year. An estab- 
lishment founded among them east of the Rocky Mountains 
would be most desirable; but the pecuniary means which 
they have at their disposal are very far from answering to 
the work which they contemplate. The lively interest which 
you take, gentlemen, in the salvation and civilization of so 
many thousands of men in the wilderness, inspires me with 
confidence to appeal to your generosity, which alone can fur- 
nish the means of conducting to a happy conclusion an en- 
terprise so vast and so eminently Catholic. 

There are among these Indians several hundreds of chil- 
dren of mixed blood, whose parents are anxious that means 
of instruction should be afforded them. To attain this, 
schools and establishments would be necessary, in which 
agriculture could be learned; and also many children of 
pure Indian blood could be received, as the heads of families 
are desirous of confiding them to the care of the mission- 
aries. A short statistic will give you an idea of the good 
which might be done among these Indians. Among the 
Blackfeet, Father Point and myself baptized more than 
1,100 children; among the Blood Indians, a tribe of Black- 
feet, Monseigneur Thibault baptized sixty; the Reverend 
Monseigneur Bellecourt, of Red river, visited Fort Berthold. 
on the Missouri, and baptized a good number of the children 
of the Mandans ; all the savages presented him their chil- 
dren for baptism. Father Hoeken, in an excursion made 
among several tribes on the Missouri, baptized over 400 



1 192 CONDITIONS IN KANSAS. 

persons. Monseigneur Ravoux, who visited some tribes 
of Sioux in 1847, ^'^d penetrated as far as Fort Pierre, was 
listened to everywhere with a consoHng eagerness, and bap- 
tized a great many children. In my late tour among the 
Sioux, the Poncas, etc., I baptized more than 300 children 
and several adults. 

From all these facts, may we not conclude, with sufficient 
certainty, that these poor souls seem ripe for a more peace- 
'able life, and for a blessed eternity? 

I have the honor to be, etc. 



Reverend and Dear Father^ 

I send you a copy of a letter that I addressed to Mrs. 
P [armentier], a Belgian lady, residing at Brooklyn, near 
New York. She is a great benefactress of the mis- 
sions. My letter contains some details concerning my re- 
cent visit to the Potawatomies, on the present very critical 
state of those Indians, and of all the nations and Indian 
tribes in the two new. Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. 

What I wrote to you in December, 1851, and you pub- 
lished in the Precis Hisforiques, of 1853, pages 398, etc., 
has been literally verified. A great number of towns and 
villages have sprung up in it as if by enchantment. The 
principal towns of Kansas are : Wyandot, Delaware, 
Douglas, Marysville, lola, Atchison, Fort Scott, Pawnee, 
Lecompton, Neosho, Richmond, Tecumseh, Lavinia, Law- 
rence, Port William, Doniphan, Paolo, Alexandria, In- 
dianola, Easton, Leavenworth, and many others. They 
dififer in population and improvements. Lawrence and 
Leavenworth are the most considerable. This latter, which 

2 Letter addressed to the editor Precis Historiques, Brussels, dated 
University of St. Louis, February 26, 1858. Forms Letter XLV, Sec- 
ond Series, Cinquante Nouvelles Lettres, and XXVII, Second Series, 
Western Missions and Missionaries. The latter text is here followed. 



A WINTER JOURNEY. 1 193 

is now an episcopal city, contains already more than 8,000 
inhabitants. They project building a territorial univer- 
sity in the town of Douglas. A medical college is estab- 
lished at Lecompton. The University of Kansas is incor- 
porated and established at Leavenworth. Funds are set 
apart for the erection of schools, on a vast scale. They 
accrue from the sale of lands granted by the United States, 
which are extraordinarily extensive. All fines, pecuniary 
penalties, escheats, ordained by law, are also to be poured 
into the treasury of the schools and colleges. 

Two months from this, the Territory of Kansas will 
be admitted as an independent State, and will form a por- 
tion of the great confederation of the United States. There 
exists little doubt, at present, but that Kansas will adopt 
the laws of the free States — that is to say, there will be 
no slavery. 

Good Father Duerinck left a manuscript concerning all 
that passed in the Mission of St. Mary's. If it would give 
you pleasure, I will send it to you, according as my time 
will admit. 



University of St. Louis, February 24, 1858. 

Mrs. S. P [armentier], Brooklyn, N. Y.: 

Madam. — I have just terminated a journey of over 800 
miles, going and returning in the midst of ice and snow 
by the most miserable roads and in wagons, which in- 
creased the inconveniences of the way. On my return 
to St. Louis, your kind letter and charitable donations were 
remitted to me. Accept my most humble thanks, with my 
heartfelt gratitude. I will assign the vestment to the mis- 
sion of the Flatheads, which is very poor in church fur- 
niture. T hope to find, in the beginning of spring, a good 
opportunity of dispatching it by the boats of the Fur 
Company. The marine plants will be most acceptable 
to Fathers B, and H. in our colleges of Namur and Ant- 



1 194 LOSS OF FATHER DUERINCK. 

werp, in Belgium, and will be admired, I am sure, in the 
collections of those two establishments. Once more, 
Madam, receive my sincere thanks for the new benefits 
that you have just added to the long list of numerous 
others, commenced many years since ; and for which we 
have naught but poor prayers to render. We shall not 
cease to address them to the Lord, for the happiness of your 
family; and I will appeal to our pious Indians, that they 
continue to pray for their kind Mothers — their good bene- 
factresses. 

The occasion of the voyage, which I have mentioned in the 
beginning of my letter, was a glimmer of hope of being 
able to discover the body of our dear brother in Jesus 
Christ, the Reverend Father Duerinck. Some days after 
the unfortunate accident, the captain of a steamboat had 
seen a dead body on a sand-bank, near the place of the 
accident, and had buried it. At this news I started to visit that 
solitary grave, on the bank of the Missouri, near the town 
of Liberty. He whom this grave contained was not the 
brother, the cherished friend and relative I sought. His 
dress denoted a hand on some boat. I was very much 
grieved. Our petitions so far have not been heard. We 
hope, however, that the great St. Anthony of Padua, im- 
plored by so many pious souls, will be propitious ; and I 
beg you to be so kind as to join your prayers with these 
fervent invocations. It would be a source of consolation 
could we find the lost remains of Father Duerinck, and 
inter them in consecrated ground, beside his brethren who 
have preceded him. 

From the town of Liberty I repaired to St. Mary's, in 
order to regulate some affairs there. I began the mission 
of the Potawatomies in 1838. My heart seemed to dilate 
among these good children of the plains, where in former 
days I had found so many consolations in the exercises 
of the holy ministry. I had the happiness of seeing a great 
number of Indians approach holy communion, with the 
deepest recollection. From the altar I addressed them 



DECREASE OF THE INDIAN RACE. I I95 

some words of consolation and encouragement in the service 
of the Divine Pastor. They have great need, especiaUy 
at present, for the whites have surrounded them on all 
sides ; and they will soon hem them in more closely on their 
own little reserves, or portions of earth that the Govern- 
ment has granted them. 

I am aware, Madam, that you take a deep interest in the 
welfare of the poor Indians. Allow me, therefore, to con- 
verse with you some moments on their position in general, 
and in particular of what concerns the Indians of St. Mary's 
among the Potawatomies. 

At the period of my arrival among the Potawatomies 
(in 1838), the nation numbered beyond 4,000 souls. It is 
now reduced to 3,000, of whom 2,000 are Catholics. All 
the surrounding tribes have diminished in the same ratio. 

To what are we to attribute this rapid decrease of the 
Indian race? This is one of those mysteries of Providence 
that all the sagacity of philosophy has in vain endeavored 
to penetrate. The immoderate use of intoxicating liquors, 
change of climate and of diet, vices, pestilential maladies 
(all these evils which contact with the whites produces 
among savages), improvidence and want of industry, all, 
united or singly, give, it appears to me, but an imperfect 
solution of this great problem. Whence is it that the red- 
man bends with such difficulty to the manners and customs 
of the European race? Whence is it again, that the Euro- 
pean race refuses so obstinately to sympathize with the red 
race ; and notwithstanding its philanthropy, or love of man- 
kind, seems rather disposed to annihilate than to civilize 
these poor children, offspring of the same Father ? Whence 
springs that insurmountable barrier between the two races ? 
Whence is it that the stronger pursues the weaker with such 
an animosity, and never relents until the latter is over- 
thrown? There is involved in this, perhaps, a secret that 
none but the Judge Supreme can explain. 

Often when I reflect on the position of so many barba- 
rous nations, who formerly were the owners of so immense 



1 196 MELANCHOLY CHANGES. 

countries, and which are at the present day in imminent danger 
of being totally dispossessed by another people, I call to 
mind the primitive inhabitants of Palestine, who, masters 
also of one of the most beautiful countries in the world, 
saw themselves deprived of it by a severe but most just 
judgment of the Creator, whose menaces they had despised 
and whose glory they had profaned. Like the Canaanites, 
the savage tribes, taken in general, have been punished gradu- 
ally. Perhaps they, like them, have been too long deaf 
to the divine voice, inviting them to quit their gross errors 
and embrace the doctrines of truth. Who has entered into 
the councils of eternal wisdom? Who can accuse his judg- 
ments of injustice? Cannot God, to whom the whole crea- 
tion belongs, dispose of his property according to his own 
good pleasure? But in displaying his justice, he forgets 
not his mercy. Here below he strikes only to heal. His 
divine heart is ever open to those even whose iniquities he 
punishes. 

The melancholy changes to which the condition of the 
Indian has been subjected within a few years, have led me 
to these mournful reflections. Under the administration 
of President Pierce, the whole vast Indian country within 
the Rocky Mountains, comprehended in the vicariate of 
Bishop Miege (except a little portion situated toward the 
south), has been organized into two Territories, known 
under the names of Kansas and Nebraska ; that is to say, 
the Congress has decreed that this country is incorporated 
into the Union and open to the whites who are willing to 
settle there, in order to form, after a lapse of time, two 
States, similar in all respects to the other States of the 
Great Republic. Although, for the moment, the new colo- 
nists have orders to respect the territories or the lands re- 
served to the savages, we may nevertheless say that this 
decree has virtually destroyed all the Indian nationalities. 
Scarcely was the law known when the emigrants, like the 
waters of a great river which has overflowed its banks, im- 
petuously passed the barrier and inundated the country. 



CRITICAL POSITION OF THE TRIBES. 1 197 

Now see the poor Indians surrounded by white men, and" 
their reserves forming Httle more than islets amid the ocean. 
The savages who before had vast countries for their hunting 
grounds, are at present restricted within narrow hmits, hav- 
ing naught for subsistence but the product of their farms, 
which few of them know how to cultivate properly. Again, 
this state is only precarious. Unless they hasten to divide 
their lands and become citizens, they are in danger of losing 
all, and of being naught but vagabonds. How replete with 
difficulties is such a change ! What a stormy and tempestu- 
ous future for these unfortunate tribes ! The evil is great, 
but it is one that must be encountered, since there is no 
remedy. The Indians, even the most advanced in civiliza- 
tion, seem to us ill-prepared to meet all the exigencies of 
their situation. 

In order to form a just idea of their critical position, and 
of the melancholy consequences which will be the result, 
unless restrained by a special protection of divine Provi- 
dence, imagine two societies — one representing the man- 
ners and customs of barbarians, the other all the splendor 
of modern civilization — coming in contact. How many 
years will elapse before there will be a perfect fusion be- 
tween the two societies, before unison will exist, before they 
can dwell together in complete harmony? Much time will 
be required ere the barbarous state will attain the height 
of the civilized! Neither the first, nor the second, nor the 
third generation, notwithstanding untiring efforts, would 
obtain that happy result, such as the thing is understood 
in our days. Hence, previous to a perfect fusion between 
the societies, the civilized society will have the advantage 
over the barbarous ; it will have it entirely at its mercy, to 
make it subservient to its will and pleasure. In a word, 
the barbarian can no better sustain itself in presence of 
civilization, than the simplicity of childhood can contest 
against the malicious prudence of mature age. This, in 
my opinion, is what will be realized in the Great Desert, 
wnen the copper-colored race will come in contact with the 



1 198 IN THE HANDS OF THE REPUBLIC. 

white. The judgment of the savage is not sufficiently ripe 
to be able to compete with the wisdom of man born in the 
bosom of civilization. It is this conviction which fills us 
with anxiety for the future of our dear neophytes in the 
different missions. We confide solely in divine goodness, 
which, we hope, will not fail to come to the help of his 
children. 

It was not difficult to descry from afar that grand event 
which must engulf in one common wreck all the Indian tribes. 
The storm which has just burst forth over their heads was 
long preparing ; it could not escape the observing eye. We 
saw the American Republic soaring, with the rapidity of 
the eagle's flight, toward the plenitude of her power. 
Every year she adds new countries to her limits. She 
ambitioned nothing less than extending her domination 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, so as to embrace the com- 
merce of the whole world, and dispute with other mighty 
nations the glory of pre-eminence. Her object is attained. 
All bend to her sceptre ; all Indian nationality is at her feet. 
Far be it from us, however, to accuse the noble Republic 
of injustice and inhumanity in her late treaties. It seems 
to us, on the contrary, that no nation has ever furnished 
them more means of civilization. If any one must be 
blamed on this point, it is rather private persons, new colo- 
nists, who act and place themselves in direct opposition 
with the good intentions of the Government in behalf of 
the savages. 

But though the future appears sombre and melancholy, 
the past, at least, leaves not the missionaries comfortless. 
In the space of the last ten years, our Fathers at Saint Mary's 
have baptized beyond 400 adults, and a great number of 
children. The gospel seed has not fallen on sterile soil. 
The greater part of these neophytes have always given 
proofs of a strong faith and of a tender piety. The heart 
of the missionary is soothed with an unspeakable joy, on 
witnessing their assiduity in the church, their ardor in ap- 
proaching the sacraments, their resignation in sickness, 



PROGRESS OF PO'^AWATOMIES. 1 199 

their natural charity, exercised especially in regard to the 
poor, the orphans and the sick; and above all, their zeal 
for the conversion of unbelievers. They are styled sav- 
ages, but we may boldly assert that, in all our great cities, 
and everywhere, thousands of whites are more deserving 
of this title. 

A great number of Potawatomies have made consid- 
erable progress in agriculture, and live in a certain degree 
of affluence. The whites who pass by, and visit the little 
territory of the Potawatomies, especially in the environs 
of St. Mary's Mission, are agreeably surprised. They find 
it difficult to believe that they are among Indians. 

It must be acknowledged that the Potawatomies have 
been specially favored by heaven. During the last quarter 
of a century, they have had the happiness of having Black- 
gowns among them ; and, during sixteen or seventeen years, 
they have Ladies of the Sacred Heart, for the education 
of their girls. The mission, on its present footing, with 
its two schools, for girls and boys, is a double advantage 
for those good people. The children acquire there, with 
religious instruction, the love of industry; the adults find 
employment in it, and hence a means of subsistence. They 
see, by the manual labor of our brothers, what man can 
acquire by diligence. 

We may add that God has treated the Potawatomies 
with great predilection. He has willed that several nations 
should contribute to their salvation. Such are, among 
others, Belgium, Holland, France, Ireland, Italy, Germany, 
Canada and the United States. Each of these countries 
has offered them material aid and missionaries. Monseig- 
neur Miege has resided among them four years ; hence their 
humble temple, constructed of logs, has been exalted to the 
rank of cathedral. 

In the critical conjuncture in which they stand at present 
— on the eve of forming a last treaty with' the Government 
of the United States, a treaty of life or death for this poor 
tribe — they have, in the person of Colonel Murphy, the 



I200 BANISHMENT AND FRAUD. 

agent of the Government, an advocate, a protector, and the 
best of fathers. This, Madam, leads me to hope that God 
has very particular designs of mercy over them, and that 
he will never forsake them. In the moment of danger, 
vou, I am confident, will not forget them in your charitable 
prayers. 

Be so kind as to recall me to the kind remembrances of 
Mr. and Mrs. Bayer, and of Miss Rosine, and believe me, 
with the most profound respect and esteem. Madam. 

Your most humble and most obedient servant, etc., 



The aborigines,^ or first inhabitants of the soil, are forced 
(nolens volens) to sell and cede their lands, with the ashes 
of their ancestors, so dear to their hearts and to all their 
recollections, in order to make room for the strangers who 
come in to settle the new States and Territories, and to go 
and occupy some new reserve, unknown and limited, which 
in turn they must abandon later; and so on from one re- 
serve to another, until there remain only arid, sterile lands, 
uninhabitable for white men, and without game, where they 
drag out a miserable existence, dwindle away and disap- 
pear. The payment of their annuities, for the millions of 
acres of land that they have ceded to th^ Government, are 
often overlooked or deferred, though they are the Indians' 
only means of support ; and often, too, when these annuities 
get through to their destination, there are rascals following 
or accompanying them who extort the pittance from the 
Indians, exchanging it for barrels af " fire-water," or use- 
less trinkets. The terms of the treaties are aften trans- 
gressed, and the Indians overwhelmed with injuries and in- 
sults. Woe to them, if they resist the unjust and wicked 
aggressors, for then they are driven out or massacred like 

3 Extract from a letter in French, dated On Board the Steamer 
Ontario, Fort Benton, Montana, June lo, 1866. See page S56. 



NO REMEDY SAVE VIOLENCE. 1 20 1 

wild beasts, without pity, or the least remorse, or any 
thought that the killing of a savage comes under the head 

of murder. A certaii- C , a Methodist minister, 

transformed into a colonel of militia and placed at the head 
of a fort, ordered the massacre (children, women, and old 
men included) of several hundred Indians, who had come 
to make a friendly visit to the post, according to their 
habit of many years' standing. All the papers were full of 
it and the frightful atrocity was fully exposed; still the 
monster found admirers and defenders, and still wears his 
epaulets. This is one case among a thousand. Is it sur- 
prising that the victims of such cruelties and oppressions, 
having no recourse to any laws for justice, rise furious, dig 
up the tomahawk and make their appeal to their quiver and 
scalping-knife, as their last and only resort for the remedy 
that is denied them elsewhere? 



University of St. Louis, December 30, 1854. 
Reverend Father :* 

The " Indian Question " has been much agitated in the 
United States during the course of this year. Two 
great Territories, Kansas and Nebraska, will henceforth 
form a portion of the great confederation. They embrace all 
that part of the wilderness included between the confines of 
the State of Missouri and the forty-ninth degree of north 
latitude, and extend westward to the summit of the Rocky 
Mountains. 

Questions concerning the future of the Indians have fre- 
quently been laid before me by persons who appear inter- 
ested in the destiny of these poor creatures. Know*ing the 

* Letter addressed to the editor Precis Historiques, dated St. Louis, 
December 30, 1854. Forms Letter XIV, Second Series, Cinquante 
Nouvelles Lettres and Western Missions and Missionaries. The latter 
text is here followed. Father De Smet made numerous copies of 
these questions and answers, in French and English, for various 
correspondents. 
7(> 



I202 WILL THE INDIANS BE EXTERMINATED: 

affection and the interest which you, Reverend Father, en- 
tertain for them, I propose giving you my views and appre- 
hensions in regard to them — views and apprehensions 
which I have long entertained. I have already said a few 
words on the subject, in a letter written in 1851, and in- 
serted in the fortieth number of your Precis Historiques. 
In the course of that same year I received a letter from a 
much-respected gentleman^ in Paris, who requested me to 
give him some details of the condition and present state of 
the Indian tribes of North America. I will give you in this 
letter the questions of that correspondent, and my replies. 
I wiill add what has passed since; above all, the resolutions 
taken and the treaties concluded, from 1851 till December of 
the year 1854, between the American Government and the 
aborigines. 

First Question. — Do you think that the aborigines west 
of the Mississippi will be exterminated like those east of that 
river? In other words, will the Indians west of the Missis- 
sippi share the same fate as their brethren east of it ? 

Reply. — The same lot that the Indians east of the Missis- 
sippi have experienced, will at no distant day overtake those 
who dwell on the west of the same river. As the white 
population advances and penetrates into the interior, the 
aborigines will gradually withdraw. Already, even (in 
185 1 ), it is perceptible that the whites look with a covetous 
eye on the fertile lands of the Delawares, Potawatomies, 
Shawinees, and others on our frontiers, and project the or- 
ganization of a new Territory — Nebraska. I should not 
be surprised if, in a few years, negotiations were entered 
upon for the purchase of those lands, and the removal of the 
Indians, who will be forced to retire farther west. The 
great openings offered to emigration by the definitive ar- 
rangement of the Oregon Question, as well as the acquisi- 
tion of New Mexico, California and Utah, have alone, thus 
far, hindered any efforts for extinguishing the Indian titles 
or rights to the lands situated immediately west of the State 
^ Rene de Semalle. 



AN INDIAN STATE NOT FEASIBLE. I2O3 

of Missouri, and those situated on the south side of the 
river Missouri, between the rivers Kansas and Platte, and 
probably as high as the Niobrara or L' Eau-qui-court. 

Second Question. — In case the Indians, having formed a 
constitution for their own government, should find them- 
selves in the territory of one of the United States of Amer- 
ica, would there not be reason to fear that these rising com- 
munities would be treated with the same barbarity and 
injustice as were the Cherokees, who, contrary to all equity, 
were deprived of their territory by the State of Georgia, and 
transported to the lands of upper Arkansas ? 

Reply. — I answer in the affirmative. In a few years 
hence (1851 ), treaties will probably be concluded with those 
tribes for " reservations," that is to say, for portions of their 
lands set apart for their future residences. But, although 
the letter of the treaty guarantees them such " reservations," 
you may rest assured that as soon as the supposed necessities 
of a thriving white population demand these lands, the 
whites will find pretexts for dispossessing the Indians. This 
is accomplished, either by negotiation or nominal purchase, 
or by rendering their situation so painful that they find no 
alternative but a transfer or emigration. 

Third and Fourth Questions. — When the Territory of 
Oregon is incorporated as one of the States of the Union, 
could not the missionaries of that region organize the con- 
verted tribes into districts and distinct counties, peopled 
with American citizens of Indian origin? Then the prop- 
erty of the Indians would become inviolable, and the mis- 
sionaries would have time to persuade them to abandon their 
wandering, hunter life, and embrace the pastoral; after a 
time they would cultivate the soil, without being disturbed 
by the pretensions of the whites. 

Reply. — When Oregon takes her place as a State in the 
Union she will follow the same policy that has been hitherto 
followed by the other States ; that is, she will subject all the 
inhabitants to her jurisdiction and laws. The policy of the 
United States has ever been to remove the Indians from 



1204 WHITE NEIGHBORHOOD INTOLERABLE. 

each new State as soon as it is admitted as a part of the con- 
federation; and in case portions of the tribes remain on 
their lands, as was the case in the States of New York, In- 
diana, Michigan and Ohio, the situation of the Indians is 
extremely disagreeable, their progress very slow. Compar- 
ing themselves with the whites who surround them, and 
whom they see, ordinarily, so enterprising and industrious, 
they generally experience a sentiment of inferiority, which 
overwhelms and discourages them. The Stockbridges (Mo- 
hegans^), who enjoyed for several years, all the rights of 
citizens in the State of Wisconsin, petitioned the authorities 
to relieve them from their obligations as such, and earnestly 
solicited the Government to grant them an abode, either in 
Minnesota or west of the Missouri. Even those who live 
in the " reserves," fine sections of land granted and secured 
by special treaties, in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, 
finding themselves strangers on their native soil, sold all 
they had and rejoined their tribes in the West. The 
neighborhood of the whites had become intolerable to them. 
When the lands of the Indians cease to be valuable, and the 
whites will and can do without them, then only will the In- 
dians enjoy the privilege of retaining them. 

Fifth Question. — The following is an extract from a law 
of the 27th of September, 1850: "It is granted to each 
inhabitant, or occupant of public land, including herein the 
half-breeds above eighteen years of age, citizens of the 
United States, or having made a declaration of intention to 
become citizens, or who shall make such declaration either 
before the ist of December, 185 1," etc. Remark that this 
law proves two things; first, that there are half-breeds in 
Oregon; second, that the half-breeds have the rights of 
white citizens. Do you not think that at some future day, 
say in the course of a century, Oregon will be peopled solely 
by a heterogeneous race, with striking traits of a mixed race 
of Indian and white blood, and a remnant of the aborigines 

^ Iroquois. 



FUTURE DARK AND MELANCHOLY. I205 

in the defiles or valleys of the mountains, like the Celts of 
Scotland and the Araucanians of Chile? Then Oregon 
would enter the category of all the Spanish States of South 
America, in which the red men, far from being extermi- 
nated, have, on the contrary, made efforts to assimilate 
themselves to the whites. 

Reply. — I answer to this last question, that in case the 
missionaries should collect the half-breeds with the most 
docile Indians, in districts or counties, under this territorial 
law of Oregon, and give the youth an education, both re- 
ligious and agricultural, the result would be a greater ming- 
ling of Indian and white blood, and thus the future popula- 
tion of Oregon would be in some manner heterogeneous. 

The future prospect of the Indian tribes is very dark and 
melancholy. Placed, as they are, under the jurisdiction of 
the United States, surrounded on every side by whites, their 
ruin appears certain. These savages disappear insensibly as 
the emigrations of the whites succeed each other and ad- 
vance. In fifty years there will be few traces of the native 
races in the western portion of this hemisphere. Where 
are those powerful tribes which, at the commencement of 
this age, dwelt in the extensive and beautiful region, now 
divided among the States of the West? Remnants only 
exist on our western frontiers. In our own day the same 
causes are in full play, and produce the same effects. And 
for the last four years, the great tide of European emigra- 
tion but makes the effect more certain. These emigrations 
multiply more and more in the present day, and succeed 
like the waves of ocean. They must find room ; that room 
is the West. 

Such are the responses which I gave in 185 1 to M. D — . 
In the space of three years, what was simply an opinion has 
become a fact. My answer to the second question has been 
literally verified. 

In the course of this year, 1854, treaties were concluded 
with the Omahas, the Otoes and Missouris, the Sauks, the 
Foxes of Missouri, the lowas, the Kickapoos, the Shawnees 



I206 INVASION OF INDIAN LANDS. 

and the Delawares, as well as with the Miamis, the Weas, 
the Piankeshaws, the Kaskaskias and the Peorias. By 
these treaties, these different tribes cede to the United States 
the most extensive and most advantageous portions of their 
respective territories, and retain, as we have already said, 
but a limited and circumscribed demesne, termed a " re- 
serve," for the wants of each particular tribe, and intended 
as their future residence. 

We remark daily in the newspapers that great numbers 
of emigrants are spreading already over the territories 
ceded ; yet the conditions precedent of the treaties between 
the Government and many of the tribes expressly forbid 
the whites to settle there before the survey and sale of the 
lands to the profit of the Indians. Notwithstanding these 
conditions, the whites settle there, and even defy the authori- 
ties to deter them. 

The new organization of the Territories of Kansas and 
Nebraska abrogates the protecting " intercourse laws." 
Thereby it has overthrown the feeble barrier which opposed 
the introduction of intoxicating liquors, which the inhab- 
itants so expressively define by the term " Indian fire- 
water." In a few short years these little reservations, or 
Indian settlements, will be surrounded by a white popula- 
tion ; these whites, being for the most part vicious and cor- 
rupt, will introduce and furnish liquors in abundance, in 
order to satisfy the depraved taste of the Indian. In all this 
the sole object is to deprive these unfortunate men of all 
that remains to them in land and money. In this position of 
affairs, I cannot conceive how the Indians can be protected 
against the dangerous influences which will inevitably sur- 
round them on all sides. Ere long (perhaps by the close of 
1856) the delegates of the Territory of Kansas will knock 
at the door of Congress for admittance into the Union. If 
this request be granted, we may at once bid farewell to the 
independence of the Indians and the maintenance of their 
reservations. The new State will directly establish her juris- 
diction over all the inhabitants found within her limits. 



IMPROVIDENCE OF THE INDIAN. I207 

Although the Indians appear to be necessarily protected by 
the general stipulations accorded on the part of the Govern- 
ment itself, constant experience demonstrates that they can- 
not exist within the limits of a State, unless they become 
citizens thereof. Witness the Creeks and Cherokees in the 
State of Georgia, who at one time were on the point of 
bringing the General Government and the State into conflict. 

In several of the late treaties that I have mentioned, the 
Indians have renounced their permanent annuities, and, in 
exchange, have consented to accept considerable sums for a 
lim.ited number of years, and payments at fixed terms. 
However liberal be the annuity, the Indian never lays any- 
thing aside for his future necessities ; this is his character. 
He lives from day to day. All is expended in the course of 
the year in which the payment is made. Let us suppose, 
therefore, that the amount of the last payment has been 
poured forth, what will consequently become of those poor 
tribes ? Here, it appears to me, is the solution of the prob- 
lem : They must either perish miserably, or sell their re- 
serves, or go and rejoin the wandering bands of the plains, 
or cultivate the soil. But, observe well, they are surrounded 
by whites who contemn them, hate them, and who will de- 
moralize them in a very short time. If it be asked, to what 
must be attributed the improvidence of the tribes, which 
neglect to exchange their permanent annuities for sums to be 
paid at limited terms, but of greater length ? The reason is 
found in the disparity of the parties who make the treaty. 
On one side stands a shrewd and, perhaps, unscrupulous 
Government officer ; on the other, a few ignorant chiefs, ac- 
companied by their half-breed interpreters, whose integrity 
is far from being proverbial. 

Adding to these facts the ravages caused every year by 
the smallpox, the measles, the cholera and other maladies, 
as well as their incessant wars and divisions, I think I may 
repeat the melancholy foresight that, in a few years, there 
will remain but very feeble vestiges of those tribes in the 



I208 CURTAIN SOON TO FALL. 

reserves guaranteed to them by the late treaties/ At this 
moment the agents continue to make new treaties, by which 
the Government proposes to purchase the lands of the 
Osages, Potawatomies and several other tribes. 

Since the discovery of America the system of removing 
and of exiling the Indians farther inland or in the interior, 
has been assiduously exercised by the whites in this portion 
of the continent. In the early times, they went by slow de- 
grees ; but as the European colonies multiplied and increased 
in power, the system has been pushed with more vigor. At 
present, this same policy marches with gigantic steps. Re- 
sistance on the part of the natives could but hasten their 
ruin. The drama of population reaches its last scene at 
the east and west bases of the Rocky Mountains. In a few 
years the curtain will fall over the Indian tribes and veil 
them forever. They will live only in history. The whites 
continue to spread like a torrent over California, over Wash- 
ington, Utah and Oregon; over the States of Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, Iowa, Texas and New Mexico; and lastly, over 
Kansas and Nebraska.^ 

Within a recent period, and since I have resided in 
America, all these States and these Territories were still the 
exclusive domain of the Indians. As the whites settle and 
multiply in them, the Indians disappear and seem to die out. 
The immense regions that I have just named include several 
millions of square miles. 

' To this point the answers to the foregoing questions and the com- 
ments thereon are taken literally from letters dated February i6, 1852, 
and October 28, 1854, written by John Haverty of St. Louis, to whom 
Father De Smet had submitted the questions for an expression of 
opinion. 

8 On the 1st of August, 1854, in the Territories of Kansas and Ne- 
braska, there was not a town or village of whites. On the 30th of 
December, of the same year, thirty or forty sites had been chosen for 
building villages and towns without delay. Labor was begun at many 
points ; houses are building, farms laid out. All is life and activity in 
these virgin territories. — Author's Note. 



DISHONESTY OF THE WHITES. I209 

Father Felix Martin wrote me recently from Canada: 
" The Indian missions are reduced almost to nothing. They 
follow in the train of those sad tribes which are no more 
what they once were. It is like a body which gradually 
sinks in itself. It is losing its grandeur, its force, its primi- 
tive forms. They have lost the character of nations; they 
are individualities, with some ancient traditions, and even 
these traces are gradually becoming effaced." 

If the poor and unfortunate inhabitants of the Indian Ter- 
ritory were treated with more justice and good faith, they 
would cause little trouble. They complain, and doubtless, 
justly, of the dishonesty of the whites. These banish them 
from their native soil, from the tombs of their fathers, to 
which they are devotedly attached, and from their ancient 
hunting and fishing grounds : they must consequently seek 
elsewhere what is wrested from them, and build their cab- 
ins in another and a strange clime. But they are scarcely at 
ease in their new abode when they are removed a second 
and third time. With each successive emigration, they find 
their grounds restricted, their hunts and fishing places less 
abundant. Yet in all the treaties the agents promise them. 
on the part of the President, whom they call their Great 
Father, protection and privileges that are never realized. 
Is it therefore astonishing that the savages give the whites 
the name of forked tongues, or liars? They say that the 
whites " walk in crooked paths to attain their objects ;" that 
their declarations of friendship, all beautiful and favorable 
as they appear, " never entered their hearts," and pass, ever 
with the same facility, " from the end of the tongue;" that 
they approach the Indian, " a smile on their lips," take him 
by the hand, to deceive him more easily, inebriate him and 
corrupt his children. " Like serpents," said Black Hawk, 
in his famous speech, " they have glided in among us ; they 
have taken possession of our hearth-stones. The opossum 
and the deer have disappeared at their approach. We are 
overwhelmed with misery. The very contact of the whites 
has poisoned us." 



I2I0 VIEWS OF A CHOCTAW CHIEF. 

These complaints and lamentations have been a thousand 
times repeated, in vain, in the speeches of the Indian orators, 
when the agents of the United States Government endeavor 
to make propositions for the purchase of their lands. A 
feeble ray of hope for the preservation of a great number of 
Indians is left, if the law proposed by Senator Johnson is 
adopted in sincerity on both sides, by the Government and 
by the Indians. Mr. Johnson proposes to establish three 
territorial governments in the Indian Territory inhabited by 
the Choctaws, Creeks, Cherokees, Chickasaws and other 
tribes, with the provision of being admitted later as distinct 
members of the confederated United States. On the 25th 
of last November, Harkins, chief among the Choctaws, ad- 
dressed a speech on this subject to his nation, assembled in 
council. Among other things, he said to them : " I appeal 
to you, what will become of us if we reject the proposition 
of Senator Johnson ? Can we hope to remain a people, al- 
ways separate and distinct? This is not possible. The 
time must come ; yes, the time is approaching, in which we 
shall be swallowed up; and that, notwithstanding our just 
claims ! I speak boldly. It is a fact ; our days of peace and 
happiness are gone, and forever. No opposition, on our 
part, can ever arrest the march of the United States toward 
grandeur and power, nor hinder the entire occupation of the 
vast American continent. We have no power nor influence 
over the most minute project of this Government. It looks 
upon and considers us in the light of little children, as pupils 
under its tutelage and protection ; it does with us as seems 
to it good. Can the Choctaws change the face of things? 
If the desire of life is not extinct in our hearts ; if we would 
preserve among us the rights of a people, one sole means re- 
mains to us : it is to instruct and civilize the youth, promptly 
and efficaciously. The day of fraternity has arrived. We 
must act together, and by common consent. Let us atten- 
tively consider our critical situation, and the course now left 
us. One false step may prove fatal to our existence as a 
nation. I therefore propose that the council take this sub- 



LAST CHANCE OF EXISTENCE. 1211 

ject into consideration, and that a committee be named by 
it to discuss and deliberate on the advantages and disad- 
vantages of the proposition made to the Choctaws. Is it 
just and wiseior the Choctaws to refuse a Hberal and favor- 
able offer, and expose themselves to the destiny of the In- 
dians of Nebraska? " 

According to news received recently, through a journal 
published in the Indian country, the speech of the chief has 
produced a profound impression, and was loudly applauded 
by all the counselors. All the intelligent Choctaws approve 
the measure. The Protestant missionaries oppose the bill, 
and employ all their artifices and influence to prevent its 
success. Harkins proposes their expulsion. " It is our 
money," said he, " that these mercenaries come here to get. 
Surely, our money can get us better teachers. Let us 
therefore try to procure good missionaries, with whom we 
can live in harmony and good understanding ; who will give 
us the assurance that their doctrine is based on that of the 
apostles and of Jesus Christ." 

The Chickasaws are represented as opposed to Senator 
Johnson's measure. We trust, however, that the vote of 
the majority will prove favorable, and that the three terri- 
torial States will be established. It is, in my opinion, a last 
attempt and a last chance of existence for the sad remnants 
of the poor Indians of America. 

It is, I will say, if I may here repeat what I wrote in my 
second letter in 1853, their only remaining source of hap- 
piness : humanity and justice seem to demand it. If they 
are again repulsed and driven inland, they will infallibly 
perish. Such as refuse to submit, and accept the definitive 
arrangement, the only favorable one left, must resume the 
nomad life of the prairies, and close their career with the 
vanishing buffalo and other animals. 

I have the honor to be, etc. 



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